Sin City Adventures
by ShawnAmber
Summary: Shawn and her best friend, Kelsey, move to Sin City. What happens in this next chapter of their lives after meeting Zak Bagans and the Ghost Adventures crew? I do not own Ghost Adventures. I only own the OG characters of Shawn and Kelsey.
1. Chapter 1: Sin City

I can't believe I'm here in Sin City! Viva Las Vegas! I mean yes, I've been here once before but that was for my 21st birthday but that was six years ago. Now not only am I back, but I'm living it up! The best part about it is that my best friend, Kelsey, is moving here with me. We've been inseparable since kindergarten and I'm so excited to be sharing this part of my life with her. We found the cutest two-bedroom apartment just ten minutes off the strip in a quiet, little gated community. Moving away from our families in Florida has been difficult but we both wanted a change and Vegas is definitely that. I only hope that she's as excited as I am.

We officially moved in about two weeks ago and have already seen some of the sights on the strip. The infamous Inions offered some great blackjack tables where we gambled away some of our money. Well, let's just say I played and she watched. I'm not a huge gambler but my dad taught me how to play when I was in middle school and I wanted to put my "skills" to the test. I came out $150 on top so that's good enough for me! We also went to the Stratosphere and went on the needle ride, enjoyed some wine and fondue at a super nice restaurant, and played more blackjack at the Wynn.

Since it's Friday, we're back out on the strip since we just happen to have off work together. Hello three-day weekend! I'm a licensed Veterinary Technician at a local animal hospital and Kelsey works at the same hospital as a receptionist. I'm not sure how we got so lucky to have landed a job at the same hospital, but it sure is fun working with my best friend. As we're walking down the strip fighting large crowds, Kelsey suddenly stops and points to a massive building.

"Hey there's the Bellagio! Want to check it out?" She shields her eyes from the blaring desert sun as she looks up to read the building name. "Oh, yes! It's beautiful in there!" I remember going in there before with my mom and step-dad the first time I visited Vegas. The gardens are amazing and everything is so vibrant. I don't think I've ever seen so many colors in one place before.

We walk in looking like complete tourists as we stare at the breathtaking glass flower ceiling. "Wow! This is gorgeous!" Kelsey exclaimed, not caring who heard.

"It is pretty amazing," I agree with her, amazed it's just as pretty as the first time I saw it. I stop craning my neck upward and start walking but realize Kelsey isn't next to me. "Kelsey, you coming?" I look back and laugh.

Kelsey peels her eyes off the flowers, "Yes, sorry! Let's go." She slightly runs to catch up with me.

Suddenly we hear a small group of what sounds like teenage girls squealing. I jump and look over to the left where the screams are coming from and I couldn't believe what I saw! There were four guys dressed in all black standing in the lobby. I recognized them instantly and my jaw hit the floor. Speechless, I just stood there and stared at them. Luckily, I was far enough away they didn't realize I was doing so. What in the hell were they doing here? Was there something going on? I was so mesmerized at the moment I didn't even care.

"Hello! Earth to Shawn!" Kelsey waves her hand in my face and gently closes my mouth from under my chin. I jump a little and look over at her.

"Do you realize who they are?" I whisper loudly and secretly point at the group of guys.

"No, who?"

"Oh my God." I dropped my finger realizing I was still pointing. I had to remember that Kelsey didn't watch their show as much as I did. "It's Zak Bagans and his Ghost Adventures crew!" I tried not to say too loudly.

"Oh my God, really?"

We were both staring now. Kelsey had a secret crush on Jay, I could tell, especially when her face went bright red when she saw him. And me? Well one could probably guess, like the rest of the world, we all have a thing for the same nerdy, hot guy with black rimmed glasses and spiked hair. I snap back to reality and realize the girls were still there trying to talk to them. The crew looked slightly annoyed that they couldn't seem to get rid of them.

I gently hit Kelsey's arm. "I have an idea."

"Ow!" She jumps. "What?"

"Come with me," I say as I make a beeline for the bathroom. I stare into the mirror wondering if I should do something to help them.

"What are you thinking?" Kelsey says as she stares at me curiously.

"I feel bad for them having to deal with those groupies; if only there was something we could do?" I start to freshen up my lip-gloss. I had decided this morning to wear my skinny jeans with a plain black V-neck t-shirt and black wedges. I accessorized with a long silver feather necklace and my silver paw print earrings. I had taken the time to curl my hair and luckily the curls were still intact.

"Shawn, you look fine!" Kelsey rolls her eyes as she sees me staring at my outfit in the mirror.

All of the sudden, an idea popped into my head. "Follow my lead," I smirk as I walk out of the bathroom and over to the guys. Kelsey follows me with wide open eyes.

"They're y'all are!" All four of them and the girls quickly snap their heads in my direction. "I've been looking for you," I say calmly, more to Zak than anyone else. They give me the 'who the hell are you' type look but I continue to go along with my plan. I stand in front of the other guys next to Zak and lightly put my hand on his shoulder. I immediately feel him tense but I give him a look like 'please just roll with it'.

_Please don't say anything, I'm just trying to help._

I put my hand back to my hip and look at the girls. "I'm sorry, but they have a lot of work to do so we have to go." Everyone looks at me like I'm crazy but I try to give the guys a look. "I'm sorry but she's right," Zak states, finally realizing my plan.

The tall blonde that seems to be the leader of her posse roles her eyes. "And who are _you_?" She eyes me up and down like I'm not worthy enough to be in her presence.

Shit. I didn't think anyone would ask me that. I frantically sift through my thoughts and try to come up with something that's not totally unrealistic when I suddenly hear, "she's our assistant."

I look back and notice everyone staring at Billy now like he's the crazy one. "Riiiight." I slowly turn back around to face the girls. I quickly look to my right at Kelsey and see her standing in the distance laughing hysterically. She quickly stops laughing though and starts to turn beet red when Jay turns to look at her and smiles. She quickly smiles at him and looks away.

"Like I said, we have a lot of work to do so you have to go now," I point to the tall blonde. She rolls her eyes again, turns around, and struts away with the rest of her friends. I can't believe that worked! I laugh to myself and smile widely. I realize I'm still standing there with the crew and slowly turn around to face them. I glance at each of them quickly and give a small smile. "Hopefully they won't bother you again. Oookayyyy, bye."

Walking away back to where Kelsey was standing, I suddenly hear from behind me, "That was awesome." I think it was Jay. I keep on heading towards Kelsey and hear the crew laugh. I smile to myself in my accomplishment.

"Hey, wait!" _No way was that one of them trying to get my attention_. I stop dead in my tracks and slowly turn around. I see Zak walking towards me. _Breathe_. "That was pretty awesome back there. Thank you," he smiles.

I melt. That beautiful smile gets to me. _Be cool_. "You're welcome," I lightly giggle. "Sorry if that was weird but I could tell y'all needed help."

Zak lightly laughs along with me. "I'm Zak." He holds out his hand for a handshake.

I accept his handshake and simply reply, "Shawn."

"It's very nice to meet you."

"Well, I'll let y'all go. I'm sure you have stuff to do." Even though I don't want to let go, I take my hand from his strong grip and place it back at my side.

"Okay," Zak laughs again. "Will I see you around the strip?"

"Uh, possibly, yeah." I know it was probably a very slim chance that I would ever run into Zak again in such a big city, but there was nothing wrong with hoping.

"Alright, then. I'll see ya," he smiles at me one last time and heads back towards the rest of his crew. I turn and finish my walk to Kelsey. I mouth "oh my God" at her and she starts laughing, giving me two thumbs up. I internally facepalm hoping the crew didn't see her.

"I can't believe that just happened," I say when I know I'm close enough for her to hear.

"That was pretty crazy," Kelsey laughs with a wide smile.

"Well, you wanna head to the gardens? Or grab lunch somewhere first? I'm getting a little hungry."

"Yeah, let's grab some food." Kelsey and I head back outside and stand in front of the beautiful Bellagio as we debate where to go.

"Join us!" A familiar voice shouts in our direction. It was Aaron.


	2. Chapter 2: Fate

I look over at Kelsey and her eyes are wide with a big smile across her face. I laugh slightly and turn back to the Ghost Adventures crew making their way towards us. "I had a feeling we would see each other again," Zak states sarcastically, since we had literally just been in the same building ten seconds ago.

I laugh, "I guess it's fate." I joke with him and fake bat my eyelashes a couple of times. He lets a laugh escape his lips.

"So where do we wanna go?" Jay asks the group.

"Wait you're serious about us going with y'all?" I look at Kelsey, surprised myself, that they would invite us.

"Yeah, of course!" Billy adds, answering Kelsey's question. "Why not?"

_We literally just met! _Why would they want to go to lunch with us, I wonder? Don't get me wrong, it was totally awesome that they asked us, but don't they have better things to do than to hang out with a couple fan girls?

"Well, we could be like serious GA fans and go crazy on you," I joke with wide eyes. The four guys get serious for a moment and lose their smiles. "I'm kidding," I toy with them slightly, rolling my eyes and laughing. I only hoped I wasn't as annoying as those girls I saved the crew from earlier. They join in on the laughter, though I could still tell they were nervous. "Where do y'all like to go?" I ask in all seriousness.

"Peppermill is good. It's nice but casual. Good food," Billy explains.

"Sounds good to me. Can we walk there?"

"Oh, for sure."

"Lead the way," I say to Billy, stepping aside so he can show us the way to the restaurant. We all walk in pairs fighting the large Vegas strip crowds. I see Kelsey smiling as she walks with Jay, striking up a conversation. I smile knowing my best friend quite possibly found her match. Aaron and Billy are leading the group talking and Zak and I are in the back walking in silence. I'm just about to speak to him when someone stops him on the sidewalk.

"Oh my God you're Zak Bagans!" The girl screams, practically putting her phone in Zak's face to get a picture with her. I can tell Zak is uncomfortable and doesn't really feel like stopping to take fan pictures or sign autographs.

"Sorry, no time for pictures. We're late," I hook my arm around Zak's to get him to keep walking. I try not to be rude to his fans, but I wouldn't want to be stopped on the street every chance there was for pictures and whatnot.

Zak starts giggling as we get far enough away from the fans. "Impressive. Thank you. That's the second time you've saved me today."

"You're welcome," I unhook my arm from his. "Is it always like that?"

He sighs, "no, not always."

"That's gotta be super annoying and frustrating," I say slightly under my breath, although Zak still hears me.

"Sometimes, when there's things I have to do and places I have to be, yes. But, seeing the fans isn't always a bad thing," he tries to explain without sounding rude. I let out a little breath through my nose and he adds, "it definitely wasn't a bad thing when I met you today." My eyes grow wide for a second then return to normal before I look up at him for a brief moment sharing a smile. I think I could look at his smile all day. Zak suddenly gently pulls me closer to him to keep me from running into a passerby. I thrash my arms out to catch myself so I don't fall and I end up in this awkward side hug with Zak.

"Sorry. That was embarrassing," I whip my head forward and release Zak from my arms. _Note to self...don't walk on a busy sidewalk and stare at a hot guy at the same time. _Zak chuckles and we start walking a little faster to get caught back up with the rest of the group. I didn't realize how far ahead they had gotten from us.

"So why didn't you freak out when you saw us. I mean most girls do," Zak asked, a little shocked.

Man, what an ego he had. Maybe not necessarily in a bad way but he sure did have one. "One thing you should know is I'm not like most girls."

"I'm thankful for that. Honestly, when you were coming over to us at the Bellagio I was a little nervous, but that was super awesome what you did back there. It was nice seeing a girl not freak out or get completely speechless by the sight of us."

Little does he know; I was internally freaking out.

"Well, you're welcome, I guess," I smile.

"We're here!" Billy shouted to our group.

We all pile in the door of the restaurant. There's a sign saying 'wait for hostess to be seated', but with all of us near the hostess table, it's a bit of a tight squeeze. Once again, Zak and I found ourselves in pretty close proximity. I only hoped we wouldn't keep getting ourselves in these awkward situations. "Table for six, please," Jay tells the hostess. She gathers the appropriate number of menus and directs us to the table. _At least we didn't have to wait there long. _

We follow the hostess to the table and we find our seats. Of course, Zak and I manage to sit across from each other so now we do nothing but stare into each other's eyes._ Great...this will be interesting_. _Please don't be awkward. _Kelsey and Jay really seem to be hitting it off right off the bat. I'm happy for her. But why was is it so weird for Zak and I? I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I mean yes he was hot and I liked him but I didn't know if I really liked him. I mean I had just met him! What was he thinking, I wonder? Probably nothing. I'm sure I'm thinking way too deeply into this...

"Ma'am? To drink?" Our waitress asked me apparently for a second time while I was lost in thought.

"Water, please," I say opening my menu.

She mentally jotted down my drink order, "okay, I'll be right back with those drinks."

Our waitress wasted no time in bringing our drinks out to us and we immediately ordered our food. I ordered fish tacos which were amazing! While we ate, we were all able to strike up normal conversation about ourselves, the show, moving to the big city, you know...the usual conversations after meeting someone new. Surprisingly, nothing was awkward between Zak and I, although, it's only awkward if you make it awkward, right? After our lunch we walked back in the direction of the Bellagio in the same pairs we did walking to the restaurant. We said our goodbyes and split ways.

Once Kelsey and I got back to our apartment there wasn't anything we could do but talk about our first BIG adventure in Sin City. This was definitely one we would never forget and I can only imagine what the days ahead will bring us.

"You know, Kelsey, I didn't get his number or anything," I sulk to my best friend as I grab a blanket and cuddle up on our living room couch. "We just spent all that time together and I didn't even get his digits! I'll never see him again!"

"Oh, but think again, Shawnee," Kelsey smirks. She plops on the couch and I turn slightly to face her. I look at her confused about what happened and I was just about to question her when she tells me the craziest thing that could've happened.


	3. Chapter 3: The Text

"So Jay and I kinda talked a lot at lunch," Kelsey started, almost as if she was nervous to tell me what happened. I give her a wide-eyed look and slowly nod for her to continue. "And we exchanged numbers." Well, great. So they scored each other's numbers and I couldn't get Zak's?

"Are you trying to tell me that Zak and I didn't hit it off like you and Jay did?" I immediately regret that I said this to my best friend. But why was she telling me this? Kelsey snaps her head in my direction shocked.

"No! Not at all! I'm trying to say that I also gave Jay _your _number," she pointed to me.

"Okay, what does that matter?" I shrug and shake my head, still not understanding what she was getting at.

"Jay and Zak are together all the time! He can give Zak your number, dummy!" Kelsey laughs that I didn't catch on to her very thought out plan.

"Yes, right," I slowly nod my head in agreement. "But will he is the question." I bring my knees up to my chest and rest my head on my knees, getting lost in my thoughts. Zak didn't personally ask for my number so did that mean he didn't actually want it? Or was he just as shy as I was? What if Jay gave it to him and Zak doesn't take it or does take it and never calls me? No. I can't keep thinking like this. If he takes it, great, and if he calls me that's even better. But I wasn't going to dwell over this or make it upset me. I let one guy upset me over stupid shit in the past and I wasn't going to let that happen again. Meeting Zak and the crew felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity to begin with and we got lucky enough to spend the afternoon with them at lunch. "They must've liked us to some degree, right Kels?" I ask her, doubting the entire situation.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I just really want this to work out, I guess. Even just to be friends with Zak would be amazing, you know?"

"Hun, it will. They wouldn't have invited us to lunch _or _paid for our meals if they didn't like us." Of course she was right. I was thankful for my somewhat watery right eye not dropping a tear down my cheek. I stay there on the couch with my blanket and watch the TV guide flip through channels. Go figure, Kelsey would stop it on the Travel Channel and _of course _Ghost Adventures would be on.

"Really?"

"What? You don't wanna watch our sexy guys?"

_Oh boy. _

All I could do was laugh but my serious thoughts suddenly took over. If this thing we had with them went any further, there was a good chance they would be "our guys". "Our sexy guys" to be exact.

_Oh wow. _"No, we can watch this. It's fine." I let out a big sigh. A few minutes into watching "our guys'" hunt down some spirits, I hear the text tone on my phone coming from the kitchen. My brain instantly trailed to this mysterious message being him. _There's no way. But what if? No it's not him. _I don't bother to go get it. I turn my attention back to Zak on our tv. Precisely two minutes later my phone sounds again.

"Don't you wanna get that?"

"It's probably just my mom or something."

"You sure?" Kelsey smirks, like somehow she knows it's _not _my mom.

I brush off her look and toss the blanket over the back of the couch, "Yeah, I guess." I mosey over to the kitchen island where my phone is, slide up the screen and I let my face unlock the phone. "A Vegas number?" I quietly question to myself. I open my text messages to reveal the entirety of the message.

_"Hey, Shawn. It's Zak. I hope I'm not bothering you, but I just wanted to see what you were up to. I had a really nice time at lunch with you earlier today."_

I let out a scream that I swear the neighbors could've heard. I can hear Kelsey laughing hysterically from the living room. "You knew, didn't you!"

"No! Of course not!" _Liar. _

"I'll be in my room!" I race upstairs, but I think I could still hear Kelsey shout, "have fun."

I jump on my already messy bed and stare at my phone screen. _What do I say? I wasn't expecting this! Do I reply? Stupid, Shawn, of course I do! Let's just start with..._

"_Hey, Zak!" _

"That's a good start," I laugh to myself.

I add, _"you're not bothering me at all! Kelsey and I were just watching reruns of your show ;) I had a great time with you as well."_

"And send. Now we wait." But he didn't make me wait long. It was barely five minutes when I heard the five-note text tone again. _That was fast. _

_"Oh, were you? Hey, I have a question for you."_

_Oh shit._ "I have a question for you" is never a good sign. Well, not usually. I'm in the middle of responding when he sends another message.

_"I'm redoing one of my exhibits at my museum and I need some props and stuff for it. I was hoping you'd come with me to look for some stuff for it?"_

_"That sounds so fun! I'd love to! :)"_

_"Perfect :) I'll pick you up tomorrow morning around 10?"_

_"That works for me :)"_

_"Awesome. Just send me your address and I'll see you tomorrow."_

"_Okay, bye!"_

After sending my address to Zak, I run downstairs to tell Kelsey the crazy news. I'm out of breath by the time I reach her. I couldn't believe this was happening! "I wonder what exhibit he's remodeling?"

Kelsey shrugs, "I don't know."

"Did you know he texted me?" I squint my eyes at her.

"Okay, maybe I did. Jay told me that Zak was going to text you."

We both laugh. I'm totally speechless at this point.

_This is happening._

Kelsey and I blather on about the whole situation over dinner. Once we're done eating, we clean up the kitchen, head upstairs, say good night and head into our separate rooms. Tomorrow is going to be one hell of a day.

Zak takes me back to his haunted museum so we can drop off the pictures he just bought for his Ghostbusters exhibit. We walk through the back entrance and head straight to the exhibit. It looks mostly finished but he didn't like how it looked and wanted to redo it before opening the exhibit to the public. Zak's already collected quite a bit of Ghostbusters memorabilia for this exhibit and has it displayed all over in places that didn't quite make sense. His gift for this type of design was lacking, I laugh internally. I glance around the room taking mental images on how I can make this better. "I can help you with all this."

"Good, I was hoping you'd say that."

"If I make this the most amazing exhibit ever what do I get for it?" I smirk.

Zak chuckles. "How about I give you a private tour of the museum?"

I think for a brief moment and smile. "Okay." I had never been to the museum before so I was excited to see it and to have a private tour by the man himself was an added bonus. Zak leaves me to my work and I start moving things around being very careful since they're old props. He found all sorts of things! Ghostbusters costumes, pieces from the car, and a bunch of other little knick knacks.

Zak comes back to find me nailing the last piece of art on the wall. "Where did you go?"

"Just thought I'd make my rounds through the museum."

"Oh." After I get the last picture on the wall I turn to Zak and smile. I splay out my arms to present the exhibit to him, "what do you think?"

"This is amazing! And it only took you an hour." He takes a slow look around in awe.

"Well, you wanted it to be amazing, right? Can't rush perfection," I joke. "So what about that tour?"

Zak smiles. "Let's go. You deserve it."

"Your museum is seriously scary!"

"Well, thanks. I guess that's my goal," Zak laughs sadistically with his left hand on the steering wheel.

I definitely would not have been able to walk through his museum alone. I was just glad I didn't really have an experience in the short time that I was in that building. I sit quietly to myself in the passenger seat of Zak's car. I'm honestly not even sure where we're going. "I really hope everyone likes the exhibit."

"They will. It's going to be amazing once I open it."

"When's that?"

"I don't know. A couple days?"

"What?! So soon."

"The sooner the better."

I was a little surprised he wanted to open the exhibit so soon, but I guess he was right. Why keep it closed if he thought it was ready for public eyes? I was so nervous people wouldn't like it. I did _not _want to be responsible for bad reviews.

Before I knew it we were pulling in the driveway of a beautiful house. Well, mansion, really. No way did he take me back to his place. I was speechless. "Where...?"

"Welcome to by humble abode." Zak parks his car in one of his many garages and gets out. I'm still dumbfounded that I was here and freeze sitting in his car. I see Zak walk around to the passenger door and he opens it for me. "You coming?" All I can do is nod and I take a step out of the car. Zak shuts the door behind me and leads me into his house. It was gorgeous and so clean! Zak brings me to his kitchen and I'm lost for words. I glance around and stare at the beautiful cabinets and endless counter space. I get myself comfortable on a barstool around the giant granite countertop island. Zak rummages through a cabinet and pulls out a couple of glasses. "So have you ever been anywhere haunted?"

"That's quite the random question," we laugh. "But yes, I have."

"Where?"

"When I was in middle school my dad took my sister and I to Waverly Hills."

"Middle school?! Damn."

"It was so much fun! I wasn't super into the paranormal back then but I do remember seeing and hearing things. My sister was scared shitless. She was in high school at the time."

Zak hands me the glass of water he'd been holding onto. "What did you see and hear?"

"Thank you," I take a sip of the cold water. "You know, the usual. Disembodied voices and whatnot. I did see an orb though. It was the craziest thing. We were walking by the big room where they kept the children. I was in the very back of our group and my dad was walking right ahead of me. I happen to look to my left into that room and there's a blue ball of light that appeared, floated for a few seconds, then dissipated. I stopped and called out for my dad. He said he saw it too, but I don't know for sure. He's absolutely crazy and I could very well be too."

Zak smiles. "I'm sure you're not. You can't really question what other people see. You know what you saw and I believe it."

"That's because you're a believer."

"You're not?"

"Skeptic believer."

"Wow. Even after going to Waverly?"

"Well, we were only there for two hours with a group of people. It's hard to catch a lot of evidence like that. And again, I was in middle school so I didn't really know a whole lot about the paranormal to begin with. I've been dying to go back there ever since I went the first time, but I haven't had anyone to go with besides my dad and I don't particularly want to go with him. I just want to get my real proof, ya know?"

"Why don't you want to go with your dad?"

"He's a long story," I sigh.

"Well...maybe you have someone else you can get your proof with," Zak smiles and raises his eyebrows.

I take another sip of my water. "Who? You?"

"Why not? I'll go with you. We'll take the whole crew and you can do a full investigation with us."

"Right," I laugh.

"What? You don't want to?"

"You're serious?" He couldn't be serious!


	4. Chapter 4: Waverly Hills

Zak was actually serious about me going to Waverly Hills with him and the crew. Never did I imagine I would do a full night's investigation with the Ghost Adventures team.

"Are you shitting me?"

"Actually, no. So you wanna do this or what?"

"Um, yes!" I accidentally slam my hands on the island counter harder than I meant to in excitement.

"Well, alright then! It's settled."

"No way! No way is this happening. Thank you!" I jump up off the barstool and embrace Zak in a tight hug wrapping my arms around his neck. I feel his arms reach around the small of my back, giving me chills. I quickly release Zak and back away. "Sorry. Got a little excited." I lower my eyes shyly.

"It's okay, really. We'll leave in a week."

I couldn't wait for the day to come. I just hope that I don't get scared shitless and make a damn fool of myself. That would be seriously embarrassing.

I hang out at Zak's for the rest of the afternoon, getting to know the real Zak. We've been able to strike up a conversation easier every day. It is definitely easier now than the first day Kelsey and I went to lunch with the whole crew. It was getting to be late afternoon when Zak offers to drive me back to my apartment.

* * *

Zak drops me back off at home and I bust through the front door of our apartment. "Kelsey! You'll never guess what just happened!"

"What? What?" Kelsey runs frantically around the corner from her bedroom.

"Zak offered me an opportunity to go on an investigation with them to Waverly Hills next week!"

"What?! That's awesome!"

"I know. I still can't believe it. I just need to tell work on Monday that I'll need a few days off."

"Hopefully they'll give it to you."

"Yeah, I hope so. Man, I'm getting hungry."

I realize that my Saturday was full of running around with Zak and chatting it up. When I was with him, I didn't feel all that hungry, but now that I'm home my stomach is starting to let me know that all I've had today was a banana and a bowl of cereal for breakfast. I make my way to the refrigerator and browse to see what I can eat. Not much.

"Want to order a pizza?"

"Sounds good."

"Thin crust cheese?" We ask each other in unison and laugh.

Kelsey picks up her cell phone, "I'll call it in."

After eating I decide to hit the hay early. It's been a day! I lay in bed dreaming of my perfect day with Zak. Was it going to be like this from now on? Were we friends? Have Kelsey and Jay continued to talk? All these questions run my brain ragged not allowing me to sleep, as usual.

Buzz buzz.

I roll over and see my phone lit up on my nightstand with a message from Zak.

_"Hey, beautiful."_

_He thinks I'm beautiful_? I ask to myself and smile like the nerd I can be.

_"Hey yourself :)"_

_"I'm really glad I was able to spend the day with you. It was refreshing."_

_"I'm glad too. I enjoyed it very much."_

_"I'm happy you did. I hope I'll see you again before we do our Waverly lockdown."_

_"Don't you worry. I won't forget about you ;)"_

_"Good. And I won't forget about you."_

_"I'll see you soon. Goodnight, Zak."_

_"Turning in a bit early, aren't you?"_

_"Hey, no making fun. If I don't, I won't sleep."_

_"No judgements here. I'll talk to you soon. Goodnight, sweetheart."_

And with that, I lock my phone and find the backs of my eyelids again with a smile glued on my face.

* * *

**Fast forward three days...**

I pull into Zak's driveway and rush to get to his front door, frantically knocking until he answers. "What?"

"People are raving about your new exhibit!" I was so excited I was shaking my phone showing the comments and reviews of his haunted museum.

"Well...your new exhibit. I read the comments. You did an amazing job helping me put that together so thank you," he smiles.

I suddenly realize he's wearing nothing but pajama pants. Damn, it's nearly 10am. I thought he'd be dressed for the day by now.

"You okay?"

"Uh, yes! You're welcome," I smile. _Shit_,_ was I just staring at him with my jaw dropped_?

He laughs to himself. "Would you like to come in?"

"Sure." _Stop smiling like a crazy person_! I tried acting as normal as possible. I remember Zak telling me when we first met that he was grateful I wasn't like most girls and fangirled over him. I was just a normal girl striking up normal conversation. So why was it so difficult now?

"People really do like the exhibit though. I was afraid that piece we got wasn't going to work but you made it work somehow. I can't thank you enough for making it look so amazing." I followed Zak into the kitchen. I sit down on the same barstool I picked the first time I came here.

"It's no problem, really. I told you I would be able to make that picture work. No faith in me," I shake my head joking.

"Hey now, it's not that I didn't have faith in you. I just wasn't sure is all. How were you so good with that anyways?" He rummages through his cabinets for a couple glasses. I feel this is deja vu.

"My sister and I both have a knack for interior design. I guess that still works for exhibits in haunted museums," I smile shyly.

He laughed and nodded in agreement. "Well it's definitely a good talent." He hands me the glass.

"Hey, Zak?" I swirl the water in my glass as he takes a sip of his own.

"What's up?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

I set my glass on the counter, "for giving me this opportunity. This chance in my life to go back to Waverly. I don't know. All the things, I guess. I never would've thought this would be me."

He gives me a small smile. _God, that smile_..."You're welcome. You deserve every moment of it."

"I officially got the time off work to be able to go, by the way. We leave Friday, right?"

"Oh, shit. Your work. Sorry, I didn't even think about that. But yes, we'll leave in three days and the investigation will be Saturday. I already have your plane ticket and finalized some details with the owners."

"Oh, Zak, I could've bought my own ticket. And my work was cool about it. Is this going to be an episode?"

"No. Just for us and I wanted to buy your ticket. It's no problem, really."

I take a sigh of relief. I wasn't really crazy about being on tv. "That was sweet of you," I smile shyly.

Zak smiles back and I swear I could maybe even see a bit of redness flood his cheeks. "So, what are you doing today? Any plans?"

I take a big gulp of water almost choking at his questions. "I don't have anything happening today. I should be working to make up some time, but they didn't need me today. Kelsey is working so I'm just hanging out I guess," I shrugged.

"Okay, good."

_Good_? What was he up to?

Just then a loud bark echoes through the large living room and kitchen, making me jump. "Sorry. Gracie isn't used to you being around just yet," Zak apologizes and he bends down to pet his beautiful black and white pup.

_Not used to me being around_..._yet_?_ Was he planning on me being here a lot_?

"Oh, that's okay. I love dogs."

"That's right. I remember our first time at lunch together you said you were a vet tech."

"Right," I smile. "Where was she last time I was here?" I hop off the barstool and bend down to pet Gracie with Zak. We lock eyes with each other and I lose my breath. It was like a staring contest in slow-motion. Zak's eyes are a beautiful dark blue. It was so hard to see what color they truly were just by watching him on TV. We start smiling at each other and I can feel my face start to flush.

"Umm," Zak stands clearing his throat. "She was with my mom. She takes her every once in a while when I'm busy."

Woof! Woof!

"You wanna go play?" I baby talk to Gracie. She runs to get her ball and drops it on the kitchen floor at my feet. "Okay, lets go!" Gracie and I head through the living room with Gracie leading the way since I didn't fully know my way around Zak's giant house yet. We run through the open French doors leading to the backyard and I throw her ball as far as I could. She gallops after it and brings it back, barking every time. I get ready to throw it again.

After playing fetch with Gracie for a few minutes I look back over to the door and see Zak standing there, now with a shirt on, with a smile from ear to ear. Thank God for the shirt. Why was he so happy that I liked playing with Gracie? I mean I know he's passionate about dogs, but so am I. He sure did seem to smile a lot when I was around. He doesn't normally seem to smile very often.

Woof!

Gracie makes herself known once again as I get sidetracked by Zak. "Sorry, girl," I throw her ball across the gorgeous yard and she chases after it once more. "You're distracting me playing with Gracie!" I yell so Zak can hear me from the doorway.

"Is that so? I can leave you alone if that's what you want." He throws his hands up in defeat as he walks towards me.

"Of course that's not what I want," I turn towards him. Gracie had given up on fetch and was on the other side of the big yard chewing on her ball. A strand of my hair sweeps across my face from the wind and Zak hesitantly reaches out and brushes the hair behind my ear. We share a smile, "so are you ready for the Waverly lockdown?"

"Me? I'm always ready. The question is, are you?"

I try to quietly let out a big breath that I didn't realize I was holding. There was something about Zak that made me feel more confident and sure of myself. "Yes. I sure as hell am."

* * *

Today is the day. The day of our investigation at Waverly Hills Sanatorium. Our flight to Louisville, Kentucky was a good flight. Of course, I sat with Zak, we talked and were both able to catch up on a little sleep. As we were descending, I woke up and noticed I had fallen asleep on Zak's shoulder. He was sleeping soundly so he didn't seem to mind. I softly shook him awake and announced we were about to land.

We all piled into the crew's black SUV and pulled into the long gravel driveway of the sanatorium at about 5pm. This would give us enough time to talk to the owner about our investigation and do a short walkthrough before we lockdown. During our walkthrough we set up X cameras at the hotspots and one in the big children's room where I had seen the blue orb 15 years or so ago.

It's about 7pm and we start the investigation in pairs with me and Zak and Aaron and Billy. Jay stays behind at nerve center and monitors the four X cameras. Zak gathers his gear and leads us to the door. "Everybody ready?"

"Let's do this!" Aaron exclaims.

Aaron and Billy make their way to the body chute first and Zak and I start on the third floor. Of course, the floor where people have claimed to see the creeper. I didn't get to see the creeper during my first visit here years ago and I was thankful for that.

The first couple hours of the lockdown we didn't catch a whole lot of evidence. Just some disembodied voices, a couple EVP's and one figure on the SLS for a brief moment. Zak decides to call the other guys over the walkie for us all to meet back at nerve center.

"Should we split up?" I immediately regret the suggestion as soon as it slips my lips.

"You sure?" Zak turns to me, surprised that I would suggest such a thing.

I stare hesitantly, "uhh yeah."

"Okay. You go back on the third floor. I'll go to the fourth. Aaron, you go to the second and, Billy, you go back to the body chute. We'll stay split up in these areas for a couple hours until about midnight and see what happens."

Great. He wants me on the third floor alone with the creeper. I don't say anything to Zak because I don't want to come off as a scared little baby. I want to be brave and do this, but in reality, I'm terrified. The crew splits ways and heads to their designated areas. I'm about to step out of the stairwell into the third floor when Zak gently grabs my arm making me jump.

"I'm only one floor above you if you need me."

"Thanks, Zak."

He lets me go and I face the third floor alone. I swear it's darker by myself than it was with Zak. I hesitantly walk down the hall staring intently at my camera screen so I can see where I'm going. Once I get down the hall a little ways, I take my digital recorder out of my pocket. "This is Shawn starting EVP session at Waverly Hills third floor." I stand as still as I can as to not contaminate the recording. "Is there anyone here with me? Can you say your name?" A couple minutes go by and I catch nothing on digital. I walk down the hall a little more. "Who's there?" I frantically look behind me after hearing shuffling noises on the ground. _I swear if that's the damn creeper_. I start up the digital recorder again. "This is Shawn again. Third floor at Waverly session two. I just heard shuffling behind me. Who was that? If that was you can you please speak into this device in my hand?"

_"Die."_

"What the fuck?" I stop the recorder. That was audible.

Right next to me.

"Who's dying?" I'm scared to talk back, but I wanted answers. "We're you a TB patient that died here?"

_"You. Die. Now."_

_Oh, fuck no_! "Zak, you there?" I try to keep my cool as I call into the walkie.

"Go ahead, Shawn."

"Zak I'm really scared. I'm getting audible voices telling me I'm going to die."

"I'll be right there."

"Please hurry." I clip my walkie back on my pants. _What the fuck is that_? I ask myself looking down the hallway. In the corner is a large black figure that looks to be on all fours walking across the floor. It suddenly turns to me and starts running along the floor, goes up the wall, and back to the floor. I let out a blood curdling scream and shut my eyes. It takes everything in my body not to run. If it's the creeper they say it will chase after the people who run. I stand my ground and open my eyes and it's still there. I can't be still anymore and I take off in the opposite direction around the corner. I hope that if it can't see me then it won't chase me. I end up in a room and peek around the corner with my camera. I look at the screen and see nothing there. I breathe heavily trying to calm myself. "It's gone. It's gone. It's gone," I repeat.

"Shawn? Where are you?" It's Zak! I'm afraid to yell to him, nervous the creeper would return. I look around the corner again with my camera and see Zak on the screen running down the hall in my direction. I start walking to him. "There you are!" My feet end up running the rest of the way to him and I embrace him in a hug.

"That was so scary."

"What happened?" He unwraps his arms from around my waist and puts his hands on my shoulders.

"I saw it."

"What? Saw what?"

"The creeper. It chased me. I tried so hard not to run but it was so scary."

Zak wraps me back in a warm hug. "It's okay. Everything's okay now."

"Can we go? I'm done. I think I got my proof."

Zak nods, "yeah. We can go."

* * *

The next morning, we pack up our stuff and fly back to Las Vegas. We meet at Ghost Adventures headquarters to sort through our evidence and what we gather is amazing. The rest of the crew caught some awesome stuff on the SLS, great EVP's, and even some poltergeist activity. I even caught a small glimpse of the creeper on my camera before I got too scared and ran away.

I drive back to my apartment to catch up on some much needed sleep before returning to work tomorrow. Oh how I dread Mondays. One thing's for sure now, I can truly say that I'm no longer a skeptic believer. I may not have made it through an entire night of investigating and I may have made a fool of myself like I hoped I wouldn't, but I can now say that I'm a firm believer in the paranormal.


	5. Chapter 5: Welcome to the GAC

Ugh. Monday. I dreadfully get out of bed as I didn't get enough sleep to make for lost time at Waverly Hills. To top the night off I had nightmares about the stupid creeper and I probably will forever.

I start with my normal morning routine of getting coffee and sitting on the couch contemplating my life's choices. Though I loved my life, I found I did this often. Kelsey will join me in a few minutes but she'll have a glass of orange juice. She was never as much of an early riser as I was. I sit there cuddled in my blanket thinking how stupid I was that I couldn't finish the investigation. The crew must think I'm such a scaredy cat. I always told myself if I ever saw the creeper at Waverly then I was done. I couldn't continue. And I was right, I couldn't.

"Morning."

"Oh, morning, Kels."

"Whatcha thinking about?"

"Just our trip to Waverly. Kelsey it was so scary." I continue to tell her everything that happened scaring myself all over again. Kelsey joins me on the couch with her OJ.

"Wow, that sounds terrifying!"

"It was. I just hate that I couldn't finish the night."

"Girl. You're a lot braver than me. I wouldn't even step foot in that building."

I giggle and grin to myself. "Well I guess we should get ready and go."

Kelsey checks the time on her phone, "ugh. Okay."

I brush my teeth, get my scrubs on, and apply a little powder to my face and mascara. When it came to work I used the bare minimum as far as makeup goes. Kelsey is usually ready and out the door before me. "I'll meet you at the car!"

"Okay! Be right there!" I hear Kelsey run down the stairs and out the front door. I stare at myself in the bathroom mirror for a second to make sure I'm decent enough for the day. "Let's do this." It was nice working together so we can carpool to work everyday. Today was my turn to drive so I grab my keys on the way out.

"Ready?"

"Yup." I unlock the car and we're off.

_

_Ring ring_.

I glance at my phone and answer, speaking through a mouthful of my lunch. "Hey mom."

"I catch you on your lunch break?"

"Mhmm."

"Well, I'm so sorry to tell you this at work, but Gpa just passed."

I quickly swallow my food trying not to choke. "What?"

"Early this morning." Tears well up in my eyes and I suddenly have no appetite to finish my lunch. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier I just didn't want to start your day like that. Look, I know you said your goodbyes before you moved, but if you want to come here..."

"No," I cut her off. I can tell my mom was crying now. I'm sure she had been. Her dad was everything to her. He was a very well known, loved man. Basically the father to my sister and I since our actual father was a nutto.

"Okay, I understand. I'll let you go. I just wanted you to know before you heard from someone else."

"Okay. Love you, mom."

"Love you too, sweetie."

I gather myself before I walk back in the hospital and clock back in. I find Kelsey still at the front desk working. "Hey you can go to lunch. I'll cover for you up here."

"Thanks. Hey, what's wrong?" She noticed my watery, red eyes.

"Nothing. I'll tell you later."

"Okay." She gives me a sad look and continues to clock out for her break.

About 45 minutes go by and Kelsey comes back from her lunch. She sits by me at the front desk and again asks me what's going on. She still has 15 minutes of her break so I agree to tell her. "My mom called and told me my Gpa passed."

"Oh my god, Shawn! I'm so sorry. He was everything to y'all!"

"Yeah. I'm sorry too. I'm sure it's killing my mom and my uncles."

"You should tell Diane. I'm sure she'll let you go home for the day."

"No, it's fine. If I go home then I'll just keep thinking about it and I don't want to think about it." Honestly, I just wanted to tell Zak and be with him. He made me feel safe and I know he could help me keep my mind occupied off my grandfather. Kelsey clocks back in as a customer comes through the door and I walk back to the treatment area of the hospital where us vet techs hang out. "Hey, Erika, do you mind getting this appointment? I need to make a quick phone call."

"Yeah, sure." Erika was our technician supervisor and a very understanding, sweet person. I go out our secret back door and call Zak. I just needed to talk to him and hear his voice.

I tap on his name in my contacts and he pick up by the second ring._ "Hey, Shawn! I was just about to call you! What's going on?"_

"I'm at work. I just wanted to talk to you." I try to sound as normal as possible, but he is always so good at knowing when something is wrong.

_"What's going on?"_

"Nothing. Just a rough day at work." I couldn't tell him the truth. Not now. He seemed to be in such a great mood and I didn't want to ruin it.

_"You sure? You sound upset."_

"Yeah, I'm good."

_"You know you can tell me anything, right?"_

"Zak, I promise. What's up?"

_"Okay. I was going to call you because I want you to meet us at headquarters this evening when you're done with work."_

"Everything okay?"

_"Everything's perfect. Just tell me you'll be there."_

"Yeah. I can meet you there at 6:30."

_"Perfect."_

"Okay, bye Zak."

_"Bye, hun."_

These names he's starting to call me are getting to me. There's no way he was getting feeling for me, right? I somehow make it through the rest of the day. After closing I meet Kelsey at the front desk. "You about ready?"

"Yup. Just finishing closing the register."

"So Zak wants to meet me at GA headquarters at 6:30. You wanna come or do you want me to drop you off at home?"

"You can drop me off at home. Aaron and I have plans."

"Ohhh!" I get wide eyed. "I didn't realize y'all were hanging out."

"Yeah! We started to and then you took him away to Waverly."

"Sorry. Well, I'm happy for you."

"Thanks. All done!"

"Alright, lets go."

I take Kelsey back home and I decide to go in for a few minutes and change. If I'm a couple minutes late I'm sure they'd understand. I throw off my scrubs and put them in the dirty laundry. Rummaging through my dresser drawers I find my skinny jeans. I put those on and a black tank top. I figured going a little casual was okay for tonight so I just slip on my flip flops and throw my light brown hair in a bun. I didn't even bother to add to my make up. I casually walk into Kelsey's room where I find her also looking through her closet for something to wear. She pulls out a lightweight, black floral, long sleeve shirt and a purple long sleeve shirt. "Which one?"

"I like the flower one," I point, sitting on her bed."

"Me too. You're gonna be late. It's almost 6:20."

"I know."

"Why do you think they wanna meet you?"

"I have no idea, but I guess Aaron isn't going to be there since y'all are going out."

"I don't know. He might. He said he had something to do before so..."

"Do you know? I mean you knew about Zak texting me for the first time."

"I swear I really don't this time," Kelsey throws her hands up in surrender.

"Alright. Well, I'm going." I exit her room and start down the stairs.

"Have fun!"

"You too!"

_

"So you want me to join your crew?" I raise an eyebrow staring at Zak.

"We would love it if you did," His tone very matter of fact.

"But isn't this like your thing?" I quickly waived my finger pointing to all four guys. "I don't want to mess anything up or impose on your investigations."

Aaron shook his head, "you wouldn't. We want you on the crew."

"But I couldn't even get through an entire investigation at Waverly. Why would want me?"

"We've been thinking about adding another person to the crew for a while and we believe you'd be amazing. The timing that we met you couldn't have been more perfect. And the whole Waverly thing doesn't matter. Seeing the creeper would be an end all for anyone. I think you were amazing at Waverly."

I smile at Zak's words. I couldn't believe what was happening in this very moment. I wanted so badly to say yes but my mouth wouldn't let me speak. Never in a million years would I imagine this happen to me. I would consider myself just an average girl from Florida now living in Sin City of all places and sitting in front of four guys that I secretly adore and can't seem so to yes to.

"So?"

I quickly come back to earth as I hear one of them speak but didn't know who. They're all staring very intently at me waiting for a reply since they still have not received an answer. Why am I so hesitant? This would be an opportunity of a lifetime. No. This is an opportunity of a lifetime. I wipe of the creepy smile I realized I was wearing and very seriously say "yes."

They all give a small cheer and Zak reaches out to my hand for a handshake. "Welcome to the GAC!"

"Wow" was all I could muster to say. They laugh and Zak ushers me to the door with Aaron right behind him.

"I'll call you tomorrow and we'll go over more details."

"Sounds perfect," I shyly grin at Zak and head towards my car. I take a few steps into the parking lot before turning back around. "Oh, Aaron! Be good to Kelsey," I shake my finger at him.

He laughs, "you got it."

_

After getting settled back at my apartment I'm completely speechless as I relive over and over everything that just happened at headquarters. How was I going to tell anyone about this? I know I had to tell Kelsey, I mean she's my best friend. All I knew from that point on was that my life would be changed. I wasn't quite sure yet if it was for better or worse but I'm sure I would soon find out. I suppose this meant I had to quit my current job! But I loved it there. My coworkers were all so nice and that's rare to find a place of work where you get along with everyone.

I could only hope this was all for the better.


	6. Chapter 6: The Kiss

_**Zak's POV**_

I was getting really worried that Shawn wasn't answering her calls or text messages. We had gotten back from Waverly about a week ago and she's been pretty distant. The last time I had a full conversation with her was when we offered her a job on the crew. If she didn't want it then why did she accept? Shawn and I had really grown close in just the short time I've known her and I didn't want to lose her. If it was my crazy head talking I would say I'm even getting feelings for her. She was just so real, easy to talk to, funny, smart, and damn was she beautiful. A couple times when I had reached out to Kelsey to make sure Shawn was okay she would just tell me she's fine. I needed to see this for myself. I didn't want to just show up at their apartment, but she left me with no choice. I had to make sure she was okay.

_Knock knock_.

I nervously wait for someone to answer the door. "Zak? What are you doing here? I was just about to leave to go out with Aaron. "

"Oh, hey Kelsey. Sorry to bother you. Is Shawn around? I haven't heard from her in a few days."

"She's been okay, Zak. I promise."

"I just want to talk to her," I plead.

"Well, she's not here."

"Could you please tell me where?"

"She's at the studio. Pretty much been there every day since she found out."

"Found out what? What studio?"

"Here's the address." My phone buzzes in my pocket with Kelsey's message. "Just talk to her." I don't hesitate and quickly half run back to my car to go to this mysterious studio Kelsey mentioned. "Hey, Zak!" I stop and peer back at Kelsey. "Don't be upset if she doesn't open up right away. That's not really her thing." I simply nod and continue to my car. I was scared what I may be finding out.

I finally pull into the empty parking lot of the building which Kelsey shared the address. The only other cars besides mine was hers and one other. It was a dance studio. Shawn dances? Did she teach? I wanted answers. Why didn't she tell me these things? I walk up to the front doors and they're locked. I smash my hands and my face to the glass so I can see inside. I see one lady at a desk so I knock on the window. I'm sure I probably scared her half to death. "Can I help you?" She hesitantly asks with the door cracked open.

"I'm looking for Shawn."

"We're closed. I can't let you in." She start shutting the door and I put my arm in the way to stop it.

"Please. I know she's here and I need to see her."

She lets out a deep sigh and opens the door for me to walk in and locks it back behind me. The lady goes back to the desk eying me intently like I was some murderer. I can hear music playing and follow the melody. I come face to face with a giant set of double doors. One of the doors had a small window for me to peer through. What I find is pure beauty. It was her on the very tips of her toes dancing the most elegant ballet. She was wearing a black leotard and a short, flowing black tutu. Her beautiful light brunette hair pulled flush against her head in the most perfectly twisted bun. She did these beautiful jumps and spins that I didn't even know were possible for a human. The lengths of her legs were endless as she moved them through the air. Her flexibility was inhuman. Something I've never personally seen. What I was watching almost brought a tear to my eye as she made the dance seem so effortless.

She was beautiful.

"Zak?"

"Shit," I mutter to myself. I didn't mean for her to catch me staring. She walks over to the double doors and opens one side letting me join her stage. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be a bother. I'll just go," I point back to the door.

"Please, don't. I'm glad you found me. I'm sorry I've been so caught up with myself these last few days. Just been going through some things." She breathes somewhat out of breath from her ballet. Her face is flushed and I can see tiny sweat beads on her forehead, though she's still beautiful.

"I didn't know you danced," I state very nonchalantly.

"You never asked. Wanna sit?" She offers me a space on the bench next to her. She begins to untie her ballet shoes.

"What is that called again?" I point to her shoes feeling like an idiot. She grins.

"Pointe."

"Right. You're beautiful," I say boldly.

"Zak."

"What? You are. How long have you danced?"

"I've been dancing since about twelve years old. I got a later start than most dancers. Especially when it comes to pointe."

"I think you're amazing."

"Thank you." She gets her ballet shoes packed in her bag and stands in front of me, holding out her hand. "Come with me. I want to show you something."

I take her hand and let her guide me to wherever she wants to take me. She interlocks her fingers with mine, walking hand in hand down a long hallway. I'm not sure if I should stay quiet or try to ask her why she's been so distant. I decide to take the plunge. "So what happened? Why have you been so quiet? I was beginning to think you didn't want to see me anymore."

"That could never be the case, Zak. I'm about to tell you why." We round a corner and come to another set of double doors. "After you." She let's go of my hand and I push one of the doors open. Inside this room was a piano. An amazing looking piano.

"Don't tell me you play, too." Shawn slowly nods and sets her bag on the floor by the black piano. She takes a seat on the piano's tiny bench and gestures me to join her.

She opens the piano key's cover and starts to explain, "On Monday after we got home from Waverly my mom called to tell me my grandfather had passed." I'm genuinely shocked, staring into her beautiful hazel eyes as she turns her head to me, letting a single tear drop down her cheek.

"Wait. Monday? You called me on Monday. Why didn't you tell me? I would've taken you-"

"No. It's okay."

"It's not okay, Shawn!"

"Zak, please." Another tear falls. "I didn't want to go. I knew this was coming and I said my goodbyes to him before I moved to Vegas. Honestly, I just wanted to be with you but I was scared. I'm sorry I didn't tell you when I called."

"You're scared to be with me?"

"I was. Not anymore. I was going to come find you actually after leaving here but you found me first."

"Shawn. You do not have to be scared to be with me. Is it the age difference?" I could only pray that she didn't care about that, but I understood if that was the care.

"No. I don't care about that."

"Okay, good. Please promise me that you'll never distance yourself like this again."

She agrees. "I want to play you a song."

"I'd love that." Her hands hover over the piano keys for a brief moment before finding their spots and she begins a beautiful melody. I'm mesmerized by how effortlessly her fingers move over the keys.

**_Shawn's POV_**

You called me out and taught me tough

With love, with love

You fought my flaws, my teeth, my claws

With love, with love

'Cause every time I'm slipping away from myself

You're the one that moves me like nobody else

'Cause when I'm down and I'm done

And I'm coming unplugged

When I'm ready to fall

You're the one always holding me up

With love

Oh no no

Your tongue won't tie, you always find

The truth, yeah you do

But still you smile despite the lines

I drew for you

'Cause every time I'm slipping away from myself

You're the one that moves me like nobody else

Oh no

'Cause when I'm down and I'm done

And I'm coming unplugged

When I'm ready to fall

You're the one always holding me up

With love

Love, love, love, love

When I'm down and I'm done

And I'm coming unplugged

When I'm ready to fall

You're the one always holding me up

When I'm down and I'm done

And I'm coming unplugged

When I'm ready to fall

You're the one always holding me up

With love

I look over to Zak sitting very closely next to me, though he didn't really have a choice on this tiny ass bench. "Now you know everything that I've been feeling for these past few days." We stare very intently into each other's eyes with our heads growing closer with every word spoken.

"Shawn."

"Yes?"

"I don't think I can keep from kissing you anymore."

"Then don't."

His breath is warm on my lips. Our foreheads meet first and his hand finds its way to my face, his thumb lightly stroking my cheek. I glance back and forth between his eyes and his ever so inviting lips. I can't take this anymore. He feels my eagerness and closes the small gap between our lips. Our lips move as one in a slow, sweet motion. It was perfect.

He was perfect.


	7. Chapter 7: We Have an Emergency

"I can't believe y'all kissed! You've known each other for what like just over two weeks?!"

"Kelsey, I know! It was crazy and probably stupid, but we were both in the moment and he was the one that said 'I can't keep from kissing you anymore'."

"Well, I'm happy for you, I guess. I just don't wanna see you hurt like last time when things moved too fast."

"I know. I agree." I will admit the kiss last night was pretty crazy, but also perfect. I just hope that this kiss didn't make things awkward with us. Especially now since I was on the crew. Today was a new day and I'm working out my last week at the hospital. I'll be sad to leave everyone and not work with Kelsey, but I'm sure she'll be invited along on some investigations. Surprisingly, she took the news quite well when I told her that I will leaving here and joining the GAC. I will miss working as a vet tech. I worked my ass off for this degree and the national exam to get my license. At least I'll still have that to fall back on in case things go south with Zak. "So how was your night with Aaron?"

"Oh goodness. It was amazing!" Ding "I'll tell you in a sec."

A customer walks in the door to the hospital. Suspected to be our 3:00pm appointment, I walk back to treatment area and start looking over the patient's chart. Annual vaccines. "So exciting," I mutter to myself. Same old shit every day.

"You okay, Shawn?" Bailey, another technician, walks around the corner.

"Hmm?"

"You're just talking to yourself?"

"Oh, yeah." I smile a little and grab the check in sheet off the exam room tray that Kelsey had just placed there seconds ago. I can feel Bailey's eyes on me as I glance over the chart again.

"You sure you got this room?"

"Yeah, I'm good." I grab my pen and enter the exam room to find the cutest little golden retriever puppy getting his vaccines. That, I will say, is one perk of the job. Being a vet tech isn't always puppies and kittens, but when it is it's great. I go through my normal script of asking the owner questions to get a history before leaving the exam room. As I'm asking my last couple of questions I hear the words I never want to hear in this profession.

"We have an emergency!" The muffled words coming from the other side of the door almost make me jump. I try to stay calm in front of the puppy's owner.

"We'll be back in shortly." I throw the puppy's check in sheet back on the tray and run back to the treatment area. "What is it?" I try to stay calm. As my coworkers move out of the way I see an all too familiar black and white dog lying motionless on the treatment table. So sweet in the face with a black patch over her eye.

It was Gracie.

She was almost cyanotic and she wasn't breathing. My eyes grow wide and I instinctively take charge over the situation. "Make sure oxygen is on! Bailey get an ET tube. I'm intubating right now! Someone start placing an IV! Get the monitor and start hooking her up!" Since I had grown close with Zak I felt like Gracie could very well be my own and I wasn't going to let anything, and I mean anything happen to this pup. "What did Zak say happened?" Everyone looks at me confused that I even know who this is. "What happened?!"

"The pool!" Crystal finally speaks up. "She drowned."

"Shit!" After placing the tube I immediately start compressions. "Doc, what's your next plan of action?"

"Continue CPR. Is the cath placed?"

"Yes!" Bailey interjects.

"Give 0.5 mls of atropine IV."

I start to get tired of performing chest compressions and ask Crystal to switch with me so I'm now giving Gracie breaths while Crystal does compressions. We continue for another minute and stop for the doctor to listen for a heartbeat. "It's faint. Continue CPR and give another 0.5 mls of atropine." I switch back with Crystal and continue compressions. Another two minutes. "The heartbeat is stronger. See if she's getting pink." I lift up her lips and find that her gums are no longer blue, but a very pale pink. "Stop compressions." I follow the doctors orders and wait to see if Gracie takes her own breath.

"Come on girl." Finally she's does. That breath made a few tears roll down my face. It was the most amazing breath I had seen in my life. Gracie continues to breath faster and her ECG is showing a normal heart rate. I extubate her before she chews her ET tube but I continue oxygen with a mask.

"Give her a bolus of fluids. I think she'll be alright." The doctor smiles at his team in appreciation. I take a second to go apologize to the puppy's owner that it'll be a couple more minutes due to an emergency and he was very understanding. Now I had to see Zak. I rush back to Gracie to make sure everything was okay before going to the lobby to confront him.

"Oh my god, Shawn! I'm so sorry. I didn't know where else to bring her. Is she okay? What happened back there? Can I see her?"

I grab a hold of his face in my hands gently and try to console him. "She's okay. We got her breathing again. Babe, she'll be alright."

Zak looks down at me with red, watery eyes and nods. "Thank you," he whispers.

"Gracie will be okay. We will have to keep her here for the rest of the day on oxygen just to be sure." The doctor comes to the lobby to let Zak know the news. "You can come pick her up at 5:30."

"I'll bring her home," I offer.

"Yeah, that'll work. Shawn can take her to me."

"Okay, great. Shawn was amazing back there just so you know."

"I'm very thankful for her," Zak smiles at me. The doctor then proceeds to go in the ever so patient puppy's appointment.

"I'll be outside for a sec," I whisper over to Kelsey and take Zak's hand. I bring him out the side door so he can tell me what happened.

"She was by the pool. She always goes near the pool. She doesn't like the water, but I guess she just fell. I don't know. It's never happened before." Zak explains, letting his eyes get watery all over again.

"It's okay. We don't have to talk about it." I keep his hands in mine. "Are you going to be okay today?" He nods not saying a word. "Okay, well, go home. Try to relax. I'm off at six so I'll bring her home." He nods again, leaning forward and engulfs me in a hug. His arms wrapping around the small of my back and he buries his face in my neck.

"Thank you." Zak stands back up, resting his hands on my hips. As much as I don't want this moment to end, it has to.

"I should get back to work."

"Okay. Thanks again." He releases me from his grip and follows me back inside to pay for the services we used on Gracie.

"I'll see you tonight, Zak."

"Bye." We share smiles and he's out the door. I look at the clock and it was already getting close to 4pm. Only two more hours to go.

"Poor Zak." Kelsey looks over to me with worry in her eyes.

"He'll be okay. And so will Gracie. I'm gonna go check on her." Back in treatment, Gracie is resting peacefully in the oxygen cage. Her gums are nice and pink and her breathing seems back to normal. I take my stethoscope and listen to her heart. "Sounds good, girl. You'll be back to normal in no time." I stroke her head between her perked up ears as she listens to me talk. Stepping away and closing the cage Gracie lets out a little whimper. "It's okay, I promise." She lets out a sigh and I walk into the doctors office. "Hey doc. Do you think she has pneumonia from the water?"

"I listened to her lungs and they were a little crackly. I put her on an antibiotic. She'll probably cough for a little while, but hopefully it'll subside."

"Thank you."

"Hey, Shawn." He catches me before I turn to leave. "Amazing job. You saved that dog. It really sucks your leaving."

All I can do is give a small smile. I truly was sad to leave this hospital, but it didn't mean it was fully over. "Thanks, doc. But I'm sure I'll be back here one day."

"Good."

I walk back up to the lobby to make sure there were no customers. This afternoon was pretty slow. Besides that one puppy appointment and Gracie's emergency we didn't really have much going on. "You never told me about your night with Aaron." I sit myself in the rolling chair next to Kelsey so she can tell me all about it. We didn't get very far before a customer walked in to buy dog food. "Okay, continue." I nudge her once the customer leaves.

"So, I was saying he took me to this super cute park that's really close to our apartment and we just talked and hung out. We played at the playground and swung on the swing."

"He's such a kid at heart."

"It's cute! And it was a really fun night. Perfect for just really getting to know each other."

"That's awesome. Did y'all kiss?"

"No!" Kelsey exclaims surprised that I would ask such a thing.

"What? No kiss?" Bailey comes to the front desk joining our conversation.

"Well we've only known each other a couple weeks. I'm not crazy like Shawn here and kisses the guy two weeks after meeting him."

"Oh, Shawn! Who? You didn't say you were with a guy!" Bailey scoots closet to me all excited.

"Well I didn't really know if we were actually together. I still don't really know."

"Who is it?!"

"The owner of that dog back there," I smile referencing to Gracie.

"Oh my god! That extremely hot guy that was up here?" I nod with an uncontrollable smile. "Isn't he old?"

"Not that old!"

"How old??"

"Like 43, I think."

"Damn, Shawn!" I can tell Bailey is getting a kick out of the entire situation.

"Wait! You're with that guy?" Crystal now joining the conversation.

"Okay, okay. We were talking about Kelsey's amazing date from last night which, by the way, was with Zak's friend who is also around 43 so I'm not the only one here."

"Get it girls!" Crystal jokes. We all get one more good laugh before getting back to work.

"I'm glad you had a nice night Kelsey."

"Thanks."

It's now getting close to closing and everyone starts the closing duties. Bailey starts sweeping the floors with Crystal behind her with the mop. I take out the trash and make sure the exam rooms are cleaned up for tomorrow. I get Gracie ready to go by snapping her collar back on her. I confirm with the doctor that she can go home and he believes she's good to go. "You ready?" Kelsey asks, coming back to treatment.

"Yeah, I think so. Bailey, Crystal y'all good?"

"Yeah, we're good. Go get your man." Crystal laughs.

I hook Gracie's leash to her collar and she very gingerly steps out of the oxygen cage. I coax her to keep walking with praise and we eventually get to Kelsey's car. I throw her bag of medications in the backseat and Gracie curls up on the front seat. "No, Grace, that's where I sit." She looks at me with those sweet puppy dog eyes that are so hard to resist. "Okay, fine." I climb in the backseat and we're off to Zak's.

Zak was already standing outside his house since I had texted him that we were on our way. Realizing where she was, Gracie perks up in the front sit and starts crying. I get out of the backseat with her little bag of medications in hand and open the front passenger door for her. She runs out and goes straight to Zak. It was such a sweet sight. They cry together and she licks on his cheek. I walk slowly up to them not to disturb their reunion. "Thanks, again," Zak's says slowing coming back to a standing position.

"You're welcome. Here are her antibiotics. She won't need another dose until the morning." Zak takes the bag and grins. Things were suddenly super weird between us and neither of us knew what to say. This is what I was afraid of. Things were now awkward. "I'll let y'all go. Goodnight."

"Okay, goodnight." Really? That's all he could muster to say? Maybe he was still distraught over Gracie, which I understood, but I was worried he didn't actually like me. Maybe he realized that the kiss we shared last night was a mistake. I erase the thought from my mind and head back to Kelsey's car.

"Let's go."

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah, I guess." I stare out the window at his house as we drove off wondering what happened between us.


	8. Chapter 8: Rhonda's Diner

When Kelsey and I get back home I go straight upstairs to my room and call Zak. I needed to make sure everything was okay with him and with us. "Hey."

_"Hey. You just left my house. Miss me already?"_

"I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. You didn't have much to say when I dropped Gracie off."

_"Yeah. I'm good."_

"Are you sure? Did I do something wrong?"

_"No, why would you think that?"_

"Things have just felt a little weird between us since we kissed."

_"Can we just not talk about that right now?"_

"Why? When do you wanna talk about it?"

_Silence. _

"Okay, well, clearly it was a mistake that will never happen again. I hope Gracie does okay. I'll talk to you when we do our first investigation. Bye, Zak." I don't give him a chance to talk and hang up. I couldn't believe he was doing this! I knew this was too good to be true. I turn my phone off so Zak doesn't try to get a hold of me. I was so shocked, disappointed, and upset about our conversation just now. I try to erase him from my mind, which is nearly impossible, close my eyes and drift to sleep.

"Shawn! Wake up! We're going to be late!" I snap awake to Kelsey shaking my shoulders. I squint at my phone as my eyes have not yet adjusted to the bedroom light.

"Shit! I forgot I turned my phone off last night."

"Come on! We have to leave in like ten minutes!" Kelsey retreats to her room to finish getting ready. I quickly throw on a clean pair of scrubs and brush my teeth. No time for makeup or coffee this morning. After quickly tying my shoes I race downstairs while throwing my hair in a messy ponytail. I grab my purse and my keys and run out the door, Kelsey following closely behind.

This morning at work was pretty busy as Tuesdays usually are. We had four surgeries lined up, but we managed to get them all done before noon so everyone was able to take their lunch. That made for a good day. I was in desperate need of coffee at this point in the day and I was starting to feel a headache coming on. I wasn't really sure what I was doing for lunch today since we were in such a rush to leave the apartment I didn't bring anything. I had just clocked out and sit in our break room trying not to think about him. "Someone is up front for you," Bailey says quickly not giving me a chance to ask who, though I think I could guess. Even though I don't want to I walk to the lobby and there he is. It's Zak.

I motion to him to meet me outside by my car. This should be fun. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to apologize from last night. I didn't mean to upset you. You're right. We should talk about what happened between us. I've tried calling you but it keeps going straight to voicemail."

"Yeah, I turned it off last night and I must've left it at home." Actually I think I did in all the rush of this morning.

"Oh." We both just awkwardly stare and wait for the other person to say something when Zak finally breaks the ear piercing silence. "Can I take you to lunch? You have time?" I didn't really want to go because I was still upset with him, but I was hungry and I thought maybe this would be a good time for us to actually talk.

"Yeah, sure." We pile in his car and we ride in silence to a local diner down the street from work.

"Water, please," I tell the waiter. There's another long pause between the two of us. Zak looks around the diner like he's trying to avoid eye contact. "Zak." I finally see his beautiful dark blue eyes. "I have to ask. Do you regret what happened at the studio?"

He furrows his eyebrows. "No. Of course not. I like you, Shawn."

"Then why are you toying with me? You just seem like you almost don't want to talk to me or something. I've had this with a guy once, I don't need this again." This was not exactly the location I wanted to have this conversation, but it was happening.

The waiter place two waters on the table interrupting us. "Do y'all know what you'd like?"

Zak starts, "I'll have the grilled chicken sandwich."

"Broccoli cheddar soup."

"I'll get those orders in right away."

"I'm sorry. I don't mean for it to seem like I'm messing with you. I guess at one point I did second guess the kiss," Zak admits.

"Then why would you even let it happen?"

"Because, like I said, I do like you. I have feelings for you and I think it scares me."

"Why? I thought our age difference didn't bother you."

"It doesn't. It's not that."

"Then what, Zak?" I ask trying not to get too upset.

"I've never had these feeling before, honestly."

"What are you talking about? You've been with women, I assume."

"Yes, but I haven't had true feelings for any of them."

"Right. It was just for the sex." Zak sighs and looks around the restaurant to make sure no one was staring. "Zak you told _me _that I didn't have to be scared with you. Or nervous. And you also told me not to distance myself from you which is what you just recently started doing."

"I know, I know. I said I'm sorry. I'm just trying to tell you my feelings. I've never really expressed them like this before."

"It's okay." I can't help but smile at Zak's innocence. "Thank you," I tell the waiter as he places our meals in front of us. "Just so you know, Zak, I've grown feelings for you as well and I'm not usually so bold to just say that to a guy." He laughs between taking bites of his sandwich. "Now you have to promise me not to distance yourself from me if you want this to work. I'm also not interested to be your sex girl."

"I promise and you really think of me like that?"

"I don't know. You said you've never felt feelings before..."

"Before you!" He cuts me off, quickly looking around the restaurant making sure he wasn't too loud.

"So then why the sudden feelings for me? You could have any girl, Zak, and you chose the nobody from Florida."

"You're not a nobody, Shawn. I've never really talked to a girl and hung out with them long enough to get feelings. Most women I've been with have either cheated or just used me for my money. It's been a long time since I even given someone a chance, honestly. But when you came over to us at the Bellagio I knew there was something I liked about you right off the bat. Then we started talking and hanging out and we just clicked. Please don't say you're a nobody or ugly or there's someone better, prettier, funnier, whatever, because in all honesty, I don't think so. I don't care what I have to do to prove to you that I want to be with _you _and no one else. Just you."

My eyes start to well up with tears. I never would've believed something like this, but I could tell Zak was telling the truth. He wanted _me. _He focuses on me, waiting for me to say something, anything, but I was lost for words. All I could do was smile and I was thankful a tear didn't decide to run down my cheek.

We finished our lunches, pay, and Zak drives me back to work just in time for me to clock back in. "Will I see you later?"

"You get off at 6, right?" I nod. "Come over to my place. I have some information about our first lockdown with you on the crew." My eyes grow wide with excitement.

"Okay!" I smile. "Bye, Zak. Thank you for lunch."

"You're welcome, sweetheart." He pulls me in a tight hug and holds me. I take in his scent in the short time I can before he releases me and kisses my temple. "Bye," he smiles. I head back in to work elated that Zak and I were able to smooth things out.

"What's got you all happy?" Crystal asks and I round the corner to the treatment area. I ignore her continuing in my own thoughts with Zak. "Hello! Shawn!" I snap out of my thoughts.

"Hmm?" I let out a chuckle.

"Ohh, boy. You're thinking about your man." Crystal joins in on the hysteria of the situation.

"He just took me to lunch and we had a good conversation, I think. We're gonna be alright."

"Well, good. I'm going to lunch now. Are you back in?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

The rest of the afternoon goes by fast. It wasn't too busy at work and we were able to leave at a decent time. Getting back home, I race upstairs and change out of my scrubs. "Where are you going in such a hurry?" Kelsey plops on my bed laughing at my eagerness to get out of the apartment.

"I'm going to Zak's. He said he has information to tell me about our first lockdown."

"Right, the investigation. You _sure _that's why he wants you over there?"

"Kelsey. We're not doing anything," I say to her as I pull over my shirt. I slip on my black skinny jeans and touch up my make up.

"Well, you sure are making yourself look a little extra to _just _get information about the lockdown." I give her a look to emphasize that we really weren't going to do anything. Kelsey sits up in my bed and throws her hand up in defeat. "Okay, fine."

"I just want to look nice is all." I apply the last bit of mascara and buckle my black wedges.

"Nothing wrong with that. I do think you should wear another shirt though."

"What's wrong with this one?" I point to my black tank top.

"Well, it's black. You've been wearing a lot of black since you met Zak," Kelsey points out. I hadn't really noticed, but I guess she was right.

"Hmm. Didn't realize. I'll wear this one then."

"Really, grey? That's not much better," she laughs.

I slip off the black tank and quickly pull over the grey one. "Where's my feather necklace?"

"You wear that a lot too."

"I like it!" I wasn't really sure why, but I had a thing for feathers.

"Here. It was on your desk," Kelsey hands me the necklace and I pull it over my head. I look in the mirror one last time checking my long, reddish-brown waves that stretch down to my mid back.

"I gotta go. I promise we'll have a day to just us soon. I feel like we haven't hung out in a while."

"We better!"

"We will." I run downstairs as quick as I can without tripping over my wedges.

"I still think you should wear a different shirt!"

"Bye, Kels!" I playfully roll my eyes and I'm out the door.

I get to Zak's in no time. It was about 6:45pm. _Not too bad. _I think to myself. I knock on his front door and another guy answers the door. "Oh, hey Jay!"

"Shawn!" Jay wraps me up in a bear hug and spins me around. "It's been a while since I've seen you!" He sets me down gently inside the house and we laugh. "How are you?"

"I'm good. What about you?"

"Been pretty good. Busy."

"Yeah," I agree with him.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about your grandfather. That sucks."

"Yeah," I say again as I slowly nod my head and purse my lips.

"Sorry, Shawn," Jay apologizes realizing he brought up sad memories.

"It's okay, really. It's hard, but I'm doing alright." I give everything I have to show a smile.

"Hey Shawn!" Billy and Aaron say together.

"Glad you could make it over," Billy says giving me a hug followed by Aaron. We all gather in Zak's living room and wait for the one and only to show.

"So what's the news about lockdown?"

"It's gonna be a creepy one," Zak interjects coming down the stairs to join the crew. He comes over to me and hugs me, softly wrapping his hands around my waist. I can feel a couple of his fingers on my bare skin making me shiver. Hopefully not a noticeable shiver. Zak chuckles as he pulls away from me, giving me a smile as he knows what he did. "I'm glad you made it."

"Me too. Sorry it's a little late. I had to change."

"You look beautiful," he assures me.

"So what's so creepy about this place?" I get settled on the couch and everyone else follows suit.

"It's called Old Alton Bridge and it..."

"Goatman's Bridge?!" I interrupt. The rest of the crew give me surprised looks as I know what Zak is talking about. "I've heard of it, y'all. Really? You're making that place my first investigation?"

"Yes, why?"

I shake my head, "nothing. It's just super intense."

"You haven't been there have you," Jay asks curiously.

"No. Sorry, Zak. Go on."

"That's alright." He continues. "There have been sightings of a black cloaked figure with horns, like a goat, walking the bridge."

"Hopefully we don't see it," I shiver at the thought.

"That would make for some pretty awesome evidence though," Billy argues.

"I suppose."

"Well, I just wanted to let everyone know that's where we're going. We'll leave next Tuesday, so in a week from today. Shawn, you'll be done with your two weeks at the hospital then, right?" I nod. "Perfect. So we'll leave Tuesday. Interview on Wednesday and Thursday. Lockdown Thursday night and come home Friday. That way we'll have the weekend here at home to chill and recover."

"Recover?"

"You never know what can happen on lockdown," Aaron says trying not to scare me.

"Great."

"It'll all work out. Everyone will be fine. We just need to read up and do our studying before we go. Shawn, maybe you can help me with that part," Zak looks at me hoping I'll agree to his request.

"Sure."

"Awesome. Well, I guess that's it."

After a good 30 minutes of hanging out and talking, Aaron, Billy, and Jay say their goodbyes. I sling my purse over my shoulder and follow behind them when I'm stopped by a forceful hand on my forearm. It takes me aback, looking behind me to find Zak practically begging with his eyes for me to stay longer. "Bye, guys!" I yell out the open front door to the rest of the crew. They respond back and I shut the door. "What's up, Zak?" He releases my arm and I turn to him.

"You, uh, wanna stay?" I give him a look internally reminding him that I'm not to be used for sex. "Just to hang out. That's all. I would never do anything to hurt you."

"I know," I smile. "How about a movie?"

"Sounds nice." Zak makes a bowl of popcorn and I stare at his giant movie collection in his living room. I'm surprised by some of the movies he had collected.

"The Notebook?" I asked confused as he walks back in the living room with the popcorn, setting it on the coffee table.

"Hey, it's a classic." I laugh and continue my search.

"How about Accepted? I could use a good, stupid laugh right now." I pull it off the shelf.

"Fine with me." Zak puts the disc in the DVD player and we settle on the couch together. He inches closer to me and grabs my hand, interlocking his fingers with mine. I glance at our hands and smile. I still couldn't believe this was us and he makes it seems like not a huge deal. Looking back and forth at each other we finally caught eyes and stared. "May I kiss you?" Zak asks innocently.

"Zak, you don't have to ask." The only words left spoken are by the actors in the movie. We slowly draw our heads closer together and share a beautiful kiss. It was short, but sweet. As we pull away I rest my head on his shoulder and bring my attention back to the tv, though all my thoughts were about him.

This was definitely something I could get used to.


	9. Chapter 9: Beautiful Pool, Beautiful Day

_Bang!_

I jolt awake. "What the hell?" I frantically look around my surroundings to find I'm still on Zak's couch. "Shit!" I grab my phone off the coffee table where the popcorn bowl still sits and look at the time. 9:30am. Kelsey's tried calling me four times and sent me texts. I feel so bad I never told her I was staying here later than I thought, but I never thought I would actually fall asleep on his couch and stay the night. I still stare at my phone checking my messages when Kelsey calls. "Kelsey, I'm so sorry!"

_"You didn't call me!"_

"I know and I'm so sorry. I wasn't expecting to stay here."

_"It's okay. I guess you're not coming to work today?"_

"Shit. Tell Diane I'm extremely sorry, but I'm coming. I'll be there ASAP."

_"Okay, but hurry."_

"Alright bye."

_"Bye."_

I get my ass off the couch and head straight to the kitchen to grab my purse. I don't even bother looking for Zak since I'm already extremely late for work. I race out the front door to my car and speed home to change into my scrubs. I decide to call Zak and apologize on my way to work.

_Ring. _

_"Shawn! Where did you run away to?"_

"Zak! I had to be at work at 7:30! Why didn't you wake me?"

_"Shit, Shawn. I'm sorry. God, I suck."_

"You don't suck, Zak. It's my own fault. I promise I'll see you later. I didn't mean to crash and dash."

_"It's alright. And I sure hope to see you."_

"You will. Bye, Zak."

_"See ya."_

I finally make it to work at about 10:20 and I race straight into Diane's office to apologize. I barely get out a couple works and she blows up. "Do you not want to be here?!"

"What?" I'm taken aback that she's so upset. "Diane you know I would never mean to be so late. I'm _never _late and you know that."

"Well clearly you don't care to work out your two weeks. All you can focus on is stupid Ghost Adventures."

"Excuse me?" She don't dare bring them into this. "They have nothing to do with me being late." I lie since I'm a way it kinda was. I mean, I don't blame Zak. Like I said, it was my fault that I fell asleep on his couch and didn't wake up for work.

"Have you clocked in yet?"

"What?" I ask confused wondering why she would want to know.

"Have you punched in yet?"

"No."

"Okay, then. You can just leave. Don't bother finishing the week."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious."

I look behind me through the door and everyone is staring. I don't bother to fight back with Diane and storm out of the hospital. This was absolutely ridiculous. I sit in my car for a minute before going back home and I get a group text from Kelsey with everyone in it. '_What happened?'_

_'Yeah, what the hell is going on?'_

_'Shawn, are you leaving?'_

'Y'all, calm down. Diane freaked out because I was so late and she doesn't think that I want to be here and finish my two weeks so I'm not.'

_'Oh, shit. Really?'_

_'No way!'_

_'You only have three more days until you finish. That's so dumb.'_

'Guys, it's fine. I really enjoyed working with y'all. I'll miss y'all!'

_'Miss you! Have fun with Ghost Adventures. We'll see you on tv!'_

_'Bye Shawn!'_

_'Bye!'_

I could not believe I essentially just got kicked out of work and can't finish my two weeks. So much for having a job to fall back on in case Ghost Adventures didn't work out. Now I'll have to find a new hospital. I decide to call Zak on my home, but I didn't yet tell him what happened at work. I was scared that he would blame himself for not waking me up for work this morning. I make it home after about 15 minutes and change into skinny jeans, my olive green t-shirt and black chucks. I leave my hair down in waves and fix my makeup. At least Kelsey would say my shirt isn't black or grey. I grab my bathing suit really quick before heading out the door just in case we decide to swim at Zak's.

_Knock knock. _

"Hey, beautiful," Zak answers his front door. I grin at his greeting, but I keep quiet. Zak steps aside and offers me to come inside. We casually make our way into the kitchen and I set my purse and my keys down on the kitchen island with a big sigh. "So, why aren't you at work?"

_Shit. _Well I mean, of course, he would ask why I'm back at his house and not working. "The hospital manager didn't think I wanted to finish my two weeks since I was so late so she made me leave," I quickly spit out without looking at Zak.

"What? That's ridiculous," Zak hands me a glass of water. I finally look up at him and take the glass.

"Thank you," I take a sip.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't. It's not your fault. I only had three days left, it's no big deal." We both take a long sip of our waters in the deafening silence. I'm not sure why things were getting so awkward between Zak and I. I thought we had smoothed everything out, but still I couldn't seem to have a normal conversation with him. I set my glass down on the kitchen island, "So how's Gracie? I hope she's better."

"Yeah, she's pretty much back to normal. Just a small cough still from the water, but I think it's getting better every day," he explains.

"Good," I smile.

"Speak of the devil."

_Woof!_

"Oh, hey Grace! How's the sweet girl?" I kneel down to her level and scratch behind her ears. She lets out a low groan and leans into my hand. I giggle and come back to my feet. "Wanna swim?" I turn and ask Zak. He stares at me, hesitating to answer. "Come on, you have a beautiful pool and it's a beautiful day."

"Okay, sure," he smiles.

"Yay!" I do a little hop over to him and kiss his cheek, feeling like such a schoolgirl. "I'll be right back. My bathing suit is in my car." I can hear him laughing at me as I turn to go to my car. Coming back inside, I head straight to the downstairs bathroom and change. I take a deep breath and let out a nervous sigh. "Just go outside. You're fine. Just swimming with Zak," I pep talk myself in the bathroom mirror. I slowly open the door with my clothes folded in hand, setting them on the couch. I find Zak lying out by the pool with Gracie sitting next to him. I only hoped she would be okay out here and not fall in again. I sigh again before opening the doors leading outside. "Is she going to be okay out here?" I ask referencing Gracie.

"Yeah, as long as we're out here to watch her," he states turning around to look at me. He stands to his feet and just stares. I feel so self conscious in my black and white bikini, but it's not like Zak hasn't seen a girl in her bathing suit before.

"So, we going in?" I point to the water, walking towards him. As I walk past Zak to the stairs of the pool he grabs my hand gently, stopping me dead in my tracks. We stare intently into each other's eyes, leaving me breathless in his grasp. He leans in quickly and kisses my lips, making me jump a little at his swift motion. He pulls back and I can't help but smile. I stand on my tip toes, leaning my head back and return his kiss. "Let's do this." We both laugh and he interlocks his fingers with mine as we jump into the pool together.

After a few minutes of swimming around together, Zak grabs me a raft from the outside storage closet by the pool. As I float, I have my arm swung over my eyes blocking the hot Vegas sun and Zak holds onto the side of the raft. "So we head for Goatman's Bridge in a week. I guess since I'm done with work early I'll start on more research."

"That would be great. I know you're not crazy about the location, but I think we'll get some awesome evidence."

"If that's what you wanna call it," I mumble.

"What do you mean?"

I move my arm, squinting from the sun and move on the raft carefully as to not fall in the pool, meeting Zak's eyes. "You're going to get more than just evidence, Zak. You'll get a hell of an experience, I'm sure."

"That's what we want."

"Even if it's bad?"

"Well, yeah. Whatever it takes."

I sigh and lay back down on the raft with my arm over my eyes. I understand that Zak wanted evidence and experience, but I worry for him, myself and the rest of the crew, especially at this location. I feel like sometimes he can take the investigations a little too far and I didn't want anyone getting hurt. We dry off and make our way back inside after a couple hours in the pool. We both change back into our clothes and cuddle up on the couch with a movie. This time we decide on the newer War of the Worlds. These times I've been sharing with Zak were amazing. I know once we start investigating things would change, but I hope things wouldn't change between Zak and I. We had an instant connection that neither of us could explain. I didn't exactly know what we were, but I knew it was good and, at this moment, that was all I could care about.


	10. Chapter 10: The Fun Before the Lockdown

By the time the movie was over it was getting into late afternoon and Kelsey would be off work soon. I found myself sitting sideways on the couch with my legs draped over Zak's lap. He would gently brush over my legs with his finger tips and even through my jeans would give me chills. I'm not even sure he realized he was doing so. _Buzz. _I reach for my phone, sitting on the coffee table, and see a message from Kelsey.

_'Hey, girl. I got off work early. I'm home. Where are you?'_

'Hey, Kels. I'm at Zak's. We just finished a movie. I'm not sure what we're doing now haha.'

"What's that smirk?" Zak wonders as he watches my thumbs go to work on my phone screen.

"Kelsey is just wondering what's up. She's off work early."

"Oh, well, tell her to meet us at GA headquarters."

"What are we doing there?"

"Since you're not working anymore at the hospital I figured you could go see your new official office. We have a computer set up in there so you can do your research."

"Awesome! Yes, I'd love to see it." I bring my attention back to my phone and tell Kelsey to meet us there.

_'Okay, perfect! See you soon!'_

"You ready now?" I confirm with Zak.

"Yup. Let's go."

We ride together in Zak's car to headquarters and meet up with Kelsey and the rest of the crew. My new office is amazing! It's on the second floor right in between Zak's and Aaron's offices. It's a lot more roomy than I thought and in one corner sits a huge desk with an iMac computer. That's about all that was in it. "I know it doesn't look like much, but I left it bare for you to decorate it how you want," Zak states.

"It's perfect!" I almost jump and down from excitement but I keep my cool as much as I can. "So, should we get to work?" I start to sit in the rolling chair at my new desk when Zak pulls my arm.

"Woah, there. There will be plenty of time for that, but right now we're going out to eat!"

"Hell, yeah! I'm hungry," Jay exclaims.

"So you really like the office?" Billy chimes in. I nod vigorously with a wide smile. The crew and Kelsey all laugh. Zak pulls two keys out of his pocket and hands them to me.

"This one is for the front door and this one is your office key."

"Thank you," I take the keys and hook them on my keychain.

"Let's go eat!" Aaron claps his hands together and leads us out the door.

It was getting close to 6:30 and I realized how hungry I was getting myself. We decided to go to this nice, but casual Italian restaurant called La Paz. Zak and I sat slide into one side of the booth first across from Kelsey and Aaron, and Billy and Jay sit on the ends. After a few minutes of mingling, talking about the show and some other random things, we order our drinks and our food. I keep my order simple and get ravioli. I get full quickly and just sit there sipping my wine. "You okay?" Zak leans his lips down to my ear, making my jump. "What's wrong?"

"Sorry. I must've been zoned out. I'm okay, just full."

"Damn, already?" Aaron laughs.

"Pasta is filling!" I defend myself.

"It'll be good leftovers," Kelsey defends as well.

"See?" I present my hand towards Kelsey. "Thank you. That it will." The crew laughs and gets back to their conversation, me not paying attention. Suddenly, I get the urge to pee, but of course I would be in the back of the booth. I felt bad making Zak and Billy have to get up, but when a girls gotta go she gotta go! "Can I get out, please?" I ask quietly to Zak. He was too lost into their conversation to hear me or pay attention. I lightly slap his leg with my hand and ask again.

"What up?" Omg, really?

"I need to get out, please."

"You okay?" Zak asks with a much concerning look on his face.

I didn't wanna have to announce to the entire table that I have to pee so I just simply say, "yes." Zak doesn't ask any further questions, thank god, and playfully shoves Billy to get up. As I make it back to the table I look over to a corner of the restaurant by our table and realize there's a karaoke station. "Omg y'all! Look!" I exclaim pointing to the karaoke.

"No way," Zak shakes his head. I give him a pouty face. "I'm not singing, Shawn. I'm sorry."

"Okay, okay," I sigh.

"You want back in the booth?" Billy asks.

"Nope. I'm going to face my fears and sing in front of a bunch of people." Everyone's eye grow wide in surprise.

"Shawn, you've sang in front of propels a bunch of times," Kelsey reminds me.

"Yes, but it's been a long time."

"You've got this," Jay reassures me. I smile at him and take a deep breath, hold it for a second and slowly release.

"Nope. I can't. Never mind. Can I get back in the booth?"

"No, you're gonna sing first," Zak smiles. I glare at him, but in the end I agree.

While I'm thinking about what song to sing another girl gets up there and sings Carrie Underwood's 'Two Black Cadillac's'. She was pretty good, a little pitchy, but she was having fun which was all that mattered during karaoke. I was between a fun song or a serious song and decided on fun with Rachel Platten's '1,000 Ships'. As soon as other girl was finished I make my way on stage. Once there, I realize there's a piano on stage covered up. "That's perfect," I whisper to myself. I didn't need a stupid track for this song. I was going to play it myself. "Can I use the piano?" I ask the karaoke DJ.

"Uhh, sure." He uncovers it and lifts the top.

"Wow." I stand in awe of this amazing instrument. I've only dreamt of having one of these for myself. It was a gorgeous grand piano. I sit down on its bench and the DJ sets up a microphone for me on the piano. "Take a deep breath, Shawn." I sigh.

_Zak's POV_  
"What is she doing?" Aaron asks looking at the karaoke stage. Billy and I turn around since our backs were to the stage and I see her sitting at the piano.

"Oh my god. She's gonna play." I didn't think she normally played in front of people either. We watch Shawn patiently as she gets ready to start her song.

_"I'd go beyond our fighting boarders if you needed that from me. _  
_I'd march with decorated soldiers to get your pretty eyes to see. _  
_Well, I'd bring your morning coffee then I'd wrap you up in me. _  
_I'd kiss your belly and your shoulders, cover blankets on our feet."_

Already Shawn had the whole restaurant's attention. She looks nervous but settles into the song quickly. Her voice was so beautiful.

_"So slow down. There's kind of blessing here, but you've gone and missed your cue. _  
_So keep your eyes set on the horizon, on the line where blue meets blue. _  
_And I'd bet that silver lining, well I know it'd find you soon. _  
_Because I have sailed a thousand ships to you, but my messages don't seem to make it through."_

By now the entire restaurant was clapping and I could tell Shawn was having fun. "Dude, she's so good!" Billy exclaims.

As Shawn finishes her song the restaurant is still clapping as she makes her way back to the table. "That was amazing," I assure her. She smiles brightly and slides into the booth next to Billy.

"Thanks guys. I haven't done anything like that in a long time. It was fun."

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself up there," Kelsey smiles at her.

"So are we about ready? We paid when you were on stage," I inform Shawn.

"Yeah, lets go." Shawn stands up first letting Billy and myself out of the booth followed by Jay, Kelsey, and Aaron. The crew says their goodbyes and split ways. I get Shawn's attention before she leaves with Kelsey so I can properly say bye.

"You were amazing up there, really," I tell her, pulling her close.

"Thank you. I felt more at ease knowing you were there listening." She leans into me closer. I place my hand on the side of her jaw and gently rub my thumb on her cheek.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah," was all she said with that sexy side smile she does. I lean down and give her a quick, but sweet kiss on the lips. "Bye, Zak."

"See ya." I let her go and she walks to Kelsey's car.

_Shawn POV_  
"You're in deep, girl," Kelsey laughs as I get in her car. All I can do is smile and laugh at what just happened.

We make the ten minute trip back home and I change into my pajamas. It's getting close to 9pm and decide to turn in for the night. There's too much spinning in my head to allow me to sleep. I was worried that I wouldn't get the research Zak wanted for our upcoming investigation. What if I couldn't go through the lockdown like what happened at Waverly Hills? I eventually turn on my tv to get my mind off Zak and Ghost Adventures, but in all honesty, there wasn't anything that could keep me from thinking about him. Eventually I get tired enough to turn my tv off and I fall asleep.

Friday morning and I wake up around 9am. That's the latest I've slept in a long ass time considering I don't sleep well to begin with. Kelsey was already at work by now, but at least she had the weekend off before we go on our lockdown. I mosey out of bed and hop in the shower. My outfit for the day includes my skinny capris, red crop top, and my black wedges. I can't forget my long feather necklace and feather earrings. I still don't know what it was with me and feathers. I do my makeup like normal and head downstairs to the kitchen to fix some coffee. "Well, it's quiet. What to do," I ponder to myself. I still hadn't heard from Zak so I wasn't sure if I should call or text him first. I grab my phone and pull up his text messages and I start.

'Hey, Zak!'

_No, he's probably busy. _

'Hi!'

_Shawn, he'll text you._

'What are you up to?'

_Ugh!_

I put my phone down on the kitchen counter, not sending any of the messages I started and take a sip of my coffee. I'll just go to the office and start my research. After all, I do have a key to be able to go when I want and maybe Zak will be there.

I drive the ten minutes to headquarters and find Zak's car in the parking lot. I just wondered why he hasn't talked to me yet today. I could've come in earlier if he needed me to. I head to the second floor and unlock my office when a voice calls for me. It sounded like Zak so I go into his office. "Yes?"

"It's good to see you here. How are you this morning?" He asks never breaking eye contact with his computer.

"Umm," I answer confused. He was all business. Much different than the Zak I'd been hanging out with and I wasn't sure if I liked it. "I'm fine, I guess. I could've come in sooner if you needed me to."

"No, this is fine. I'm not super strict or have specific hours for the crew. I just expect things to get done and so does Travel Channel."

"Right. Well, I'll just go back to my office then."

"Let me know what you find!" He yells after me.

What was his deal? Did I do something wrong? Say something wrong? I had thought we smoothed things out between us. I shake it off and sign into my iMac, playing some music while I work. I create a file on the computer for Goatman's Bridge research and start googling. I wasn't exactly sure what he wanted me to look for so I find everything I can. After a couple hours of research I decide to give my eyes a break from the computer screen when suddenly I hear what sounds like another voice in Zak's office. I turn down my music so I can hear and it's a woman. Definitely another girl. I shouldn't snoop, but how can I not? I casually sneak a peek into his office as I carefully walk by and I was right! Was this why he was acting so weird towards me? He was with someone else? I knew this was too good to be true. I quickly walk back to my office, grab some papers I had printed about the lockdown and walk into Zak's office, clearing my throat to get his attention. "Oh, hey! Shawn, this is Angela. Angela, this is Shawn, our new member." I fake a smile towards the blonde sitting on Zak's desk, purposefully show him her obviously fake cleavage.

"Nice to meet you." I show no emotion towards her.

"Oh, Zaky, she's adorable," she giggles, standing next to Zak with her hand on his shoulder.

_Zaky? _"I just wanted to show you what I've found about the lockdown," I hold up the papers to show him. Zak stands out of his desk chair next to Angela and smiles.

"Show me later. We're heading out for a while. I'll be back in a couple hours."

"Oookayyy."

"I'm sure what you've found is great."

"Ready, baby?" Angela baby talks to Zak.

_Baby? What the fuck is going on? _They walk out leaving me in Zak's office alone. I needed answers now! I go over to Aaron's office and demand him to tell me who the hell this Angela is. "She's Zak's girlfriend."

"Okay, _what?!_ You know that we were kind of together right?"

"Yeah I wondered. But I guess Zak didn't think so."

"What an ass!"

"He can be," Aaron agrees.

This was not going to be the end of this. I had to talk to Zak about this. Things were great with us! At least so I thought. Why is he just now bringing Angela into the equation. It didn't add up. I had to get out of the office for a while and clear my head.

After my long break I go back into my office. I glance into Zak's office as I pass and see that he's alone. This was my opportunity. "What the hell, Zak?"

"Excuse me?"

"Angela? Don't you think you should've mentioned her _before _you and I got involved?"

"We were never truly invested," he says so nonchalantly.

"I can't believe you! You're such an ass! We were invested! What about our talk at the diner?! All of that was bullshit, I guess? About you never having the feelings you have for me before? Or our first kiss we shared at the studio? Oh, hey. What about the kiss we shared last night?!"

"They were all just moments Shawn. Nothing long lasting."

"Wow. I'm SO glad I signed up for this. Don't EVER talk to me! I'm now only in this because of my contract with Travel Channel. NOT for you."

"Okay."

Okay?! That was all he could say? I felt tears well up in my eyes now. There was just one question I had. "How long?"

"How long, what?"

"Come on, Zak! How long have y'all been a thing or whatever the fuck you wanna call it?"

"A few months."

"Ugh! Does she even know that you've been screwing around with me, you cheating bastard?!" I storm out of his office before he can answer and go back into mine. I lock myself inside not wanting to talk to anybody. I turn my music back on and just cry. I delete all the pictures we had taken together over the past few weeks and every text message. This is not at all how I thought this would be.


	11. Chapter 11: Interviews

**Time hop 4 days...**

Zak and I hardly talked since he introduced me to the amazingly fake Angela. I hated not talking to him or hanging out with him. It was almost like Angela stole him away from me, but she technically had him first. I still couldn't believe I fell into his trap. I told Kelsey everything over the weekend before I left for Texas for the investigation and she couldn't believe it either. Aaron didn't have much to say about it which didn't make me feel very good since him and Zak were best friends.

It was Tuesday, early afternoon and we had just arrived at our hotel. Tomorrow we will start interviews so today was just a chill out day. I get settled in my hotel room which was right next to Zak's, of course. I was just happy that Angela didn't tag along with us to the lockdown. Even though I was so angry with him I still wanted to talk and get answers. Any kind of answer as to why he didn't think we were anything. I give him a few minutes to settle into his own room before knocking on the door. As soon as he opens the door my eyes well up with tears.

"Hey, Shawn. Everything okay?"

"No, everything's not okay," I shake my head and blink making a tear fall down my cheek.

"Here, come in." I follow him into the room as he takes my hand. We sit on the bed together and he rubs my back to comfort me, but I quickly stop him.

"Stop!" I stand back up and pace the room. "Stop being nice to me."

"Why would I do that?"

"I was falling for you, Zak! Why would you kiss me and lead me on like that if you didn't feel anything?!" I had never been so open about my feeling to anyone before, but I had to know what he was thinking.

"Shawn, please. Would you calm down and sit?" As I pace by him he grabs my hand and urges me to sit next to him on the bed once again. "Just so you know, I was falling for you too. I _am_ falling for you."

I turn to face him not believing what he was saying. "What?"

"It's true. Everything I said at the diner that one day was true. Every word, I swear. Angela was gone on a trip and I just got lost. I got lost in you." I start crying harder now. "Please, don't cry."

"How, Zak?" I sob. "If we were ever together how could I trust you? You cheated on Angela!" Not that I really cared for her, but it was still wrong. He stayed silent. "Are you going to stay with her?"

"I don't...I don't know."

I try to calm my sobs, stand in front of Zak, and lift his face to look me in the eyes. To my surprise he had a few tears escape his own eyes. "You might've made a mistake, Zak, but that doesn't make you a bad guy. You may like Angela, hell, you may even love her, but she's not good for you. I have a bad feeling about her if you continue that relationship. And I'm not just saying that because of you and me." He lowers his head out of my hand and sighs. "I'll go and leave you alone. I couldn't stand these last four days being so mad at you and not talking so I had to come see you." He shows a slight side smile. I start to open the door when he calls out and stops me.

"Hey, Shawn?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't give up on me." I sigh and walk back to him giving him a kiss on the forehead. We share a smile and I turn to leave.

_Zak's POV_  
"Fuck," I sigh to myself and lay back on the bed. I can't believe I did this to her. I felt so bad. But how could she say that about Angela after only meeting her once? I didn't know what to do and I didn't want this distraction right before lockdown. I did really like Angela and I had feelings for her, but Shawn. Damn, she had such a huge hold on me it was something I've never felt before. I _was _growing feelings for her. The first second I met her she pulled me in. Shawn was so real. Never thought I would have to chose between two girls.

I get my ass out of bed and make sure my eyes look like they haven't been crying. I had to get out and clear my head so I can prep for my interviews tomorrow. After killing time at the gift shop in the hotel lobby I take the elevator back to my room and pass out. It was a long trip here and I was ready to sleep for the rest of the night.

The next morning, Shawn is knocking on my door at about 10am. I had planned to start our interviews at 2pm so I wasn't sure why she was getting me up so early. "Come in!" I yell from my bed as she knocks a second time.

"I can't, Zak. It's a hotel."

Ugh, right. What the hell does she want? "Yes?"

"The guys and I wanted to see if you want to join us for breakfast, but I can go and leave you alone."

"No. I'll come. Just give me a minute to wake up."

"Okay. We're all hanging out in Billy's room when you're ready."

I nod and shut the door. I hope I didn't seem too harsh, but I hate mornings. After a shower I put on my black pants, black shirt and my boots. You know, the usual. I take some time on my hair and I'm good to go.

_Shawn's POV_  
"Damn, what's taking him so long?" Billy asks taking a peek at his watch.

"Probably his damn hair," Jay laughs. Just then there's a knock on the door.

"I'll get it. It's probably him." I open the door to Billy's room to find Zak as hot as ever. "Hey," I smile.

"Hey," he smiles back though I can tell he's not quite fully awake yet. "So where are we going?"

"I think we decided on IHOP. You cool with that?"

"Yeah, lets go." Zak starts walking away hoping we'll follow.

"Oh, okay." I turn to the other guys, "let's go y'all! Zak's ready." I laugh a little at Zak's eagerness even though he's not really awake. I run a little to catch up with him and make sure he's okay. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No. Why do you think that?" He asks keeping his pace. I was quite shorter than him at 5'4", so I was practically running to keep up.

"You just seem-,"

"I'm just still tired, Shawn. That's all."

We make it to the elevator and wait a couple seconds before Aaron, Billy, and Jay catch up. We take the elevator to the lobby and pile into our GAC SUV. I hop in the back with Jay and Aaron, Zak rides in the front seat and Billy is driving.

Breakfast was delish and we make it back to the hotel. We all got some sort of dish with pancakes and eggs. At this point it was nearly 11:30am and none of us would be hungry for lunch. Zak calls a little meeting in his room so he can tell us the game plan for the rest of the day. "So the first interview is at 2pm and I only have two interviews today. One of them decided she didn't want to talk. I pretty much already have my list of questions, but I want to see that research you found again, Shawn, so that I can think of something else to ask. I nod and he continues. "Jay I want you to film the interview like normal, but I also want Shawn tak-,"

_Buzz. _

"Sorry, it's Kelsey," Jay embarrassingly says as he puts his phone back in his pocket.

"Ohh how's Kels?" I ask excited to hear from her since she hasn't text me directly.

"She's-,"

"Guys! Can we get back to this for a second, please," Zak asks. Jay and I stay quiet but giggle to each other at Zak's annoyance. "What what I saying?" He sighs.

"You wanted me to do something," I remind him.

"Oh, yes. I want you to take some still photos of the interview."

"Okay. I can do that."

We all go to our own rooms after our meeting and rest up for a couple hours before interviews. It's now getting close to 1:30 and Zak is gathering everyone once again so we can leave. It's about a 20 minute drive to Goatman's Bridge from our hotel and our first interviewee was there waiting for us and ready. The heaviness that rushed over me after getting out of the car was almost unbearable. It was almost as if I couldn't breathe or move. "You okay?" I look over my shoulder and see Billy coming up beside me. I try to breathe deep and speak, but all I can do is nod. "It's gonna be okay," he assures me as he wraps his arms around my shoulders.

"Can you feel that?" I ask motioning to the air.

"It's heavy here, yes. Are you sure you're gonna be okay?"

I breathe heavy, "I don't know."

"Hey, Billy! Can you help me with this?" Aaron calls out. The crew starts gathering the equipment and setting it up outside our GAC car. Zak walks over to the first interviewee and introduces himself. I'm not really sure where I'm supposed to be so I slowly walk to where Zak and his interview are standing.

"Oh, Shawn! This is Christy, Christy, this is Shawn. She will be taking still photos for us and helping with the investigation."

"It's really nice to meet you," I hold out my hand and Christy accepts my handshake.

"You as well."

"So, Christy. What kind of experiences have you had here?" Zak begins and I snap my first photo of the two of them.

"Well, there have been sightings of a goat-headed man wandering the wooded areas."

"Have you seen this goat man?"

Christy pauses for a moment and takes a deep breath. "I have."

"You have?" Zak confirms and Christy nods. I walk to the other side of them to get a different angle, being careful not to get in the way of the camera and sound guys.

"I saw the head and there were glowing red eyes." Just the thought gives me terrible shivers down my spine.

"Did it do anything to you?" Zak continues.

"I was just frozen. It was like I couldn't get away from it. I fell to my knees and felt sick, so sick."

Zak asks a few more questions and I get a couple more still photos. Hearing the things Christy says that happened to her and her friends chilled me to the core. These stories made me not want to be here even more than I already didn't want to be here and I'm not even sure that's possible. Zak finishes with Christy's interview and she leaves after thanking myself and the crew. I wish I could've left with her. I hated the feeling here. We waited around for about 20 minutes after Christy left for the second interview, but they ended up not showing up. "Can we get outta here?" I ask almost mad that we had to sit here at this place that I already learned to hate.

"Yeah, lets pack up," Zak walks off from the rest of the crew annoyed.

We get our gear back into the van and head back to the hotel. We spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out in Billy's room talking about Zak's interview and I send the still photos to the network after getting approval from Zak. We all have dinner together and go back to our own hotel rooms. I can't stop thinking about our stupid investigation tomorrow and it keeps me from a good nights rest. My phone says 2 am. "Come on, Shawn. Sleep," I whisper to myself. I sigh turning on the tv in hopes it'll get me sleepy enough to shut my eyes and fall asleep. Finally after about an hour I'm looking at the backs of my eyelids.


	12. Chapter 12: Goatman's Bridge

There wasn't anything that could prepare me for what could possibly happen at this investigation tonight. Like most nights I slept like shit last night. I get out of bed to the sound of Zak banging on my hotel room door. Quickly throwing on another pair of yoga pants and a sports bra I answer the door. "Oh, uh, I just wanted to see if you wanted to have breakfast with us." I can tell he's a little nervous as I'm only wearing my yoga pants and sports bra. It's hard to contain my laughter seeing him trying not to look down.

"I was just on my way to the gym."

"Oh, that's nice," Zak swallows hard.

"I can take a day off. I'll go with y'all." He smiles wide and heads in the direction of Aaron's room without saying a word. I chuckle and close the door changing into my skinny jeans and plain black V-neck tee with my feather necklace and black boots. I quickly finish my makeup before heading to Aaron's room myself. Barely getting one knock on the door the guys rush outside almost running right into me. "Jeez, watch it y'all!"

"You ready, Shawn?" Aaron asks in excitement basically jumping up and down like a little kid.

"Yeah! Where are we going?" I gather my energy and meet his excitement as I jump up and down with him. I can hear the rest of the crew start laughing at us and I stop.

"I don't know! But I'm really hungry so I'm excited to eat!"

"You're such a goober," I play punch him in the arm.

* * *

Breakfast was delish. We all enjoyed our food and talked about random things. It was nice being able to get my mind of Goatman's Bridge for a little while, but now it was time to get back to work. Everything in me wanted to beg Zak not to let me do this investigation tonight. I just had a really bad feeling about the lockdown, but I couldn't quite explain why.

By the time it started to get dark we had already made our way to the hell hole and started setting up x-cameras in some of the more active places according to Christy yesterday. I placed one by the entrance while Jay went closer to the bridge and set one up so we had eyes on the bridge the entire time. After I set up my camera I join Jay at the bridge. "Are you ready for tonight?"

"I guess so, why?" He questions so nonchalantly. I keep silent not being able to gather my thoughts. Staring intently in front of me at the bridge, Jay puts his hand on my shoulder and brings me back. "You sure you're okay?"

"I really don't know, Jay. I just don't feel right and I have a really bad feeling about this lockdown."

"Have you told Zak?"

"I can't. What am I supposed to say?"

"Exactly what you just told me."

"But I can't explain it. I know he'll ask questions and I have no answers for him."

"So be it. Just be careful," he shows a little smile.

"Yeah, you too."

* * *

It was now about 8:00 PM and we finally finished setting up our cameras. It was time and I was definitely not ready. I just wanted to run away. "You ready?" I hear a voice from behind me as I stare into the forested entrance. I look to my right side and Zak is there with my camera. I take it from him and sigh. "Just stick with me and you'll be okay," he smiles and takes his first step into the Goatman's forest without hesitation. His confidence is quite the turn on, if I must say. I get my camera ready and swallow hard taking my first step behind Zak.

The first half of our investigation was surprisingly quite relaxed. We would hear some strange noises, but we haven't caught much visual evidence yet. I check my phone clock for it to show 3:00 AM and I see Aaron stumbling over to the bridge. I look to him to make sure he's going to be okay, but he sure didn't seem okay so I run to him to try to comfort him. His skin was super pale and his breathing heavy and erratic. All of a sudden, it was like all of Aaron's energy escapes him making him collapse. I try to catch him before he falls to the ground and I help him the rest of the way down as slowly as I can. "Just sit here and relax." He pulls his knees up to his chest, resting his head and arms on his knees. Suddenly, I hear commotion where the other guys are standing and look over to see what's happening. I couldn't believe what I was witnessing. Zak was trying to choke himself out. I hated the thought of leaving Aaron in the state that he was in, but I had to help Zak. I run to where Jay and Billy were standing, trying to calm the situation.

"Zak, stop trying to choke yourself," I try to calmly say as I walk to him. His eyes were shut tight and his breathing was erratic. I take my hand and gently grab his arms trying to pull his hands off his neck. In one swift motion he takes one hand and grabs one of my wrists forcefully pushing me backwards. Billy happens to catch me and I give him the most terrified look. I look back up at Zak and he's choking himself even harder. "Zak, stop!" Billy helps me to my feet and I find Jay wrestling with Zak on the ground. Tears fall from my eyes as I see Zak seriously trying to hurt Jay. "Zak!" I yell for him again, but it's no use. "Zak, you're hurting him!" I'm desperate to help Jay as he's now being pinned on his back and choked by Zak. Billy rushes over to the guys and helps Jay out of Zak's grip. They finally let go of each other, coughing from the choking fight they shared with each other as heavy tears continued falling from my eyes. This was something like I would see in my nightmares and I couldn't believe it was happening. All I wanted to do was comfort Jay and Zak, but Billy wouldn't let me near them in case I got hurt. Zak finally comes to his feet and stumbles away and I kneel next to Jay to make sure he's alright.

"I'm good," he struggles to get the words out. I help him to his feet and the two of us stand there with Billy watching Zak walk away.

"Guys. I'm scared," I sob. I rest my head on Billy's shoulder. "What do we do?" I try so hard to keep it all together knowing this is going to end up on national television.

"I think he needs a little time," Billy states rubbing my back to comfort me.

Finally Aaron finds his feet and heads our way. "What the hell happened? I think I just passed out."

"Oh my god, Aaron." I run to him and hug him tight. I absolutely hated that I left him. "I'm so sorry I left you," I cried.

"Shawn, it's okay. I'm okay." He wraps his arms tight around my shoulders and kisses my forehead. Aaron and I have grown so close like he was my brother, hell, Jay and Billy were too. "Where's Zak?" He asks letting me go.

"He walked over there," Jay points towards the bridge. "He tried to choke himself." Aaron widens his eyes in disbelief. "We can probably go over and see if he's okay now." The four of us take a couple steps towards Zak when Billy stops us.

"Wait. I think only Shawn should go." We all look to him for confirmation.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Jay asks.

It stays silent a for a few seconds then I start my walk again to Zak. I look back at Aaron, Jay, and Billy mid-walk and all three of them nod at me to continue as they can see my hesitation. Finally I make it to where Zak stood, leaning forward with his hands on the side of the bridge and I walk up slowly behind him. "Zak?" He jumps and turn around to face me. "A-are you o-okay?" I stutter in fear. He keeps silent continuing to stare at me. He was starting to make me nervous. Why wasn't he saying anything? "Zak?" He then rushes to me and just stops inches from me. Everything in me tells me to run away from him not knowing if he's possessed. I stand my ground, my heart pounding. A few tears escape my eyes and fall down my face. We stare deeply into each other's eyes, breathing heavy. The seconds feel like minutes which feel like hours. It was him. I came to the realization that this was truly Zak and he wasn't possessed. His beautiful dark blue eyes were staring straight into my soul.

_Zak's POV_

I stare intently into Shawn's beautiful hazel eyes. Complete chock takes over my entire body making it almost impossible for me to move. There have been many things happen to me over the years of investigations, but choking myself has never happened before. I'm honestly surprised that Shawn was still around after the whole ordeal, but I'm so happy that she was still here. In this moment I realize what I what. What I _really_ want and _who_ I really want, and that was this amazingly beautiful woman standing in front of me. The fact that she didn't give up on me made me want her even more. I needed her.

A small smile forms on my face and I grab the sides of her cheeks kissing her more passionately than ever. I think of nothing else in this moment and no words were shared between us. Not even the words 'national tv' could stop me from kissing her in this moment. I didn't care if people saw or if people knew were together. We break apart briefly and I lean down again and kiss her quickly a second time. "This is definitely not going on tv, right?" She laughs though serious. I wipe the remaining tears on her cheeks and we share a smile as I lead her back to Aaron, Jay, and Billy.

"I think this concludes our lockdown," Zak states. Aaron, Jay, and Billy nod in agreement without a word. The five of us pack our gear quickly and walk away from the bridge and out of the forest, instantly feeling the heaviness of Goatman's Bridge lifted off our shoulders.

* * *

_Shawn's POV_

Back at the hotel, I spend some time gathering my thoughts after the whole ordeal at the bridge. I change into more comfortable clothes and crash onto the bed with a long sigh.

_Ding._

I look over to my phone and find a text from Zak.

_"Hey. You want to come over here? I wanna talk."_

"What could you possibly want to talk about right now?"

_"Please, Shawn."_

I sigh again and take myself next door. I barely get one knock on the door and Zak opens it quickly making me jump. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"How did you know I was standing out here?"

"Just a feeling."

"Seems that we keep getting these feeling about each other."

"What do you mean?" Zak furrows his eyebrows. I make my way into his hotel room turning back around to face him. I wasn't sure how to say that I was having bad feelings about the investigation before it started so I just simply told him.

"Before the lockdown I was having bad feelings about it."

"Like something bad was going to happen?"

I shake my head, "I don't know exactly. I know you want answers, but I don't have them, Zak. I just didn't have a good feeling. I didn't know if it was about anyone in particular, it just wasn't good."

"You still should've told me."

"Well, I told-" I stop myself before I went on. I knew it would hurt his feeling that I wold someone else and not him.

"Told who?" He starts getting frustrated.

"Jay."

"So, you can tell the other guys things and not me?" He snaps.

"Well we haven't exactly been on a good page lately, Zak," I snap right back. He rubs his hair messing up his perfect Zak fin and sits down on the bed. "I wanted to tell you, I promise. I just knew that you would ask questions and I don't have the answers you're looking for."

"I'm not looking for answers, Shawn. I just want you to be able to talk to me. You know you can talk to me about anything. We've been over this before."

"I know, I'm sorry!" I apologize quickly. We stay silent in each other's company for what seems like minutes on end. "Why do we always seem to pick an argument with each other?" I ask softly with my head down staring at the ugly hotel carpet. Zak takes my chin gently with his hand to turn my head and face him. He stares deeply into my hazel eyes with his dark blue.

"I think it's because we care for each other and we don't know how to say it."

"Just say it, Zak."

"Say what?" Before I knew it our heads were growing closer together.

"You know."

"What?"

"Ugh!" I pull my head away quickly and push his arm away. "You kissed me on the bridge! What the hell was that about? Do you want me or not, Zak? Stop playing me! It's either me or Angela, not both. You told me not to give up on you, well, I'm getting pretty close to that point. You need to figure out what you want."

"And do you know what you want?" He asks suddenly taking me aback.

"You, Zak!" I yell shocking myself. "I want you," I say again under my breath. Zak gets up off the bed and walks slowly to me. He cups my face in his hands making me stare into his gorgeous eyes once again. "I can't keep pretending that I don't care for you."

"Then don't. I want you too. I always have since the moment we met."

"So what does this mean?"

"It's you, Shawn. It always has been and always will be." He leans in and kisses me hard. The kiss gets more passionate as I jump up and wrap my legs around his torso. He brings us to the bed without breaking our kiss and gently sets me down as he straddles on top of me. His fingertips give me chills as his hands find their way under my tank top. "You're so beautiful," he says finally breaking our kiss. I can feel the eagerness of him pushed hard on top of me as things get more heated.

I end up staying in his room that night and wake up the next morning naked in his bed. I can feel him shifting around next to me as he starts rubbing my bare back. "Good morning, gorgeous." I roll to my other side to see his quirky, hot smile making me giggle. "What?"

"Nothing," I shake my head keeping my smile. "We sure had some fun last night, eh?"

He laughs, "We sure did." He kisses me hard not caring about the nasty morning breath I felt. "Are you ready to go back home today?"

"Oh, so ready."

"Well, let's get ready. Our plane leaves at noon."

We spend the morning packing our things and we head to the airport. I was so happy to be going back home. I missed Kelsey and my own place, my own bed. I could only imagine now what was going to happen with Zak and Angela. I didn't even want to think about it, but I had to. I didn't know if I should feel bad for essentially stealing her man or if I should be happy he chose to be with me. I still couldn't believe it was happening. "Shawn, let's go. We're boarding," Zak gets me out of my thoughts. I half smile at him and follow him, Aaron, Jay, and Billy onto the plane. I actually got a seat with Jay, but we arranged it so I could sit with Zak. I'm sure by now the guys figured that we were kind of together, but we didn't care.

As we were getting off the plane in Vegas the one and only Angela was waiting for Zak at the baggage claim. "Oh, boy," I mumble.

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of everything," Zak assures me. He kisses my forehead and we get our bags off the conveyer belt.

"Zak!" Angela screams from across the airport as soon as she catches glimpse of us. "I'm so happy you're home!" Angela and Zak hug then she swoops in for the 'welcome home kiss'. Zak dodges her kiss making her pout.

"I'm tired." Zak simply states. I stand there watching the two of them and Angela doesn't even say a word to me, but I think I was okay with that.

"Well, let's get you home then," Angel swoops her arm around Zak's waist and urges him to walk outside. The rest of the crew and I follow them out of the airport and make our way to our GAC SUV that I guessed Angela drove here for us. This is going to be interesting. Welcome back to Sin City...


	13. Chapter 13: Home Sweet Home

As soon as we get back into Vegas I have the crew drive me home. In all honesty, I kind of just wanted to get away from Zak and Angela and I missed my best friend. Being away from her was tough especially in the circumstances I was in at the lockdown. I couldn't call her or text her since we can't have phones during lockdown. I was lucky enough I could carry it around in my pocket in case of emergency. I didn't even want to think about what was going to happen with Angela. I could only trust that Zak would keep his word and end it with her.

Walking through the door to our house I see Kelsey sitting on the cough with her favorite book making my giggle to myself. I can't even count how many times she's read that damn book. "You're reading that again?" I playfully ask as I drop my duffle bag near the door.

"Hey! You're home!" Kelsey marks her page in her book and runs over to give me a huge hug. "I missed you!"

"Me too, girl. It's been crazy let me tell you."

"Uh, oh. What happened?" She suddenly gets serious.

I wasn't even sure where to start. Do I tell her about what happened with me and Zak first or the lockdown?

"Oh, screw it," I think out loud and begin my crazy story of my first lockdown.

* * *

"Omg! You and Zak? Is Jay okay?!"

"Okay, between Zak choking himself and almost killing Jay and Zak and I hooking up, you comment on Zak and I hooking up first?" We both laugh. "But, yes, me and Zak and Jay is fine. I'm sure he'd love to hear from you."

"I'll call him in a little bit. So what's going to happen with this Angela bitch?"

"I have no idea. Zak told me he'd take care of it so I have no idea what that's supposed to mean." The only horrible thought I could keep in my head was of Zak and Angela having sex right now because he couldn't find the balls to break it off with her.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Huh?" Kelsey breaks the nasty thought. "Sorry, you don't wanna know."

"Alright, well, let's just get you unpacked," Kelsey grabs my bag and starts heading upstairs. I follow behind her to my room and she helps me unpack my bag. For the most part, unpacking just meant putting my clothes in the laundry and putting my toiletries away. We were done within ten minutes and went back down to the kitchen. We had flown in early afternoon so I was quite hungry for a good lunch. I rummage through the fridge to look for anything at all eat. The first thing I see is yogurt so I take it.

"You hungry?" I ask Kelsey after taking my first bite of yogurt.

"No, I took myself out for lunch before you got home."

"Oh, that's nice! Where did you go?"

"I found a super cute cafe a little ways down the strip near the Wynn Hotel. It was super yummy."

"You'll have to take me there one day!"

Kelsey laughs, "Sounds good."

"I know I just got home, but I think I may go upstairs and relax. You know, catch up on some sleep."

"Yeah, I get it. Go take a nap," Kelsey smiles.

I hate leaving her again, but that's the introvert in me I guess. I needed some time to myself after that lockdown. Even time away from Zak seemed like was in my best interest right now, although, I was curious to know what was going on with him and Angela. I ended up turning my phone off so I wouldn't get any distractions, knowing Zak would probably try and contact me soon. It felt so good to lay in my own bed! I shut my eyes and try to clear my head which doesn't work like usual. My mind is always going, more so lately it feels like since joining the GAC. I've only been on one real lockdown with the crew and I feel like it's been a lifetime of lockdowns. I don't understand how Zak and the crew do it so often, but I suppose I would soon find out for myself.

I end up drifting off to sleep and wake up about an hour later. It felt so good to rest my eyes. I turn my phone back on and see that it's now getting close to 4:00 PM. Suddenly, my phone blows up with like seven text messages and a missed call from Zak.

_Hey. How are you doing?_

_Everything okay?_

_Where are you?_

_I wanna talk._

_Shawn?_

_Okay, I'm not sure what's going on, but if I did something please tell me._

Itake a look at the last message and my heart thuds.

_I spoke with Angela. We really need to talk._

That definitely doesn't sound good. Maybe I should go over there to see what's going on. I could just only hope she wasn't still there. "I'm going to Zak's!" I yell to Kelsey from upstairs.

"Everything okay?"

"He said he spoke with Angela and now we really need to talk. He left me a bunch of messages while I was sleeping," I inform her as I come downstairs.

"Oh, wow. Good luck then, I guess."

"Thanks!" I grab my keys and rush to my car. It only takes me barely ten minutes to get to Zak's place and I don't see an extra car so I hoped she wasn't here.

_Knock knock._

"There you are!" Zak screams and engulfs me in a huge hug.

"Here I am." I wrap my arms around him barely able to get the words out. "Zak, e-ease up o-on the g-grip."

"Oh, sorry." Zak releases me and takes a step back so he can see me better. "I was worried about you!" I take a step inside and follow Zak into the kitchen and sit on the same barstool that I always have. "Why didn't you answer my texts or anything?"

"I just so happened to be taking a nap after our crazy lockdown," I say rubbing my hands through my hair.

"Hey, don't be stressed out. Everything is okay." Zak comes over and gently takes my chin to look up at his beautiful eyes. "It's all good. I talked to Angela."

"So, it's over between y'all?" Zak nods and kisses me so nonchalantly like we've been married for years. A small smile creeps across my face. "You promise?"

"Shawn, please don't worry. I promise you are my only one," he kisses me again and releases my chin.

"Okay, Mr. Cheeseball," I joke. "So did it go okay? Was she super pissed?" I was curious.

"She was pretty mad, yeah. There was screaming, throwing things, more screaming."

"Wow," I raise my eyebrows in disbelief. I didn't think she would go to those lengths, but I guess you can't judge a book by it's cover. Zak just shakes his head in agreement without saying a word.

"How about we all go to dinner tonight? Let's double date with Kelsey and Jay."

"Oh, I would love that!"

"And then maybe you and I can..." Zak trails off as he feels his way up my shirt and leaves soft kisses all over my neck. God, his touch is just amazing. He makes me want to crawl into his bed with him right now, turn myself into a crazy animal and rip all of his clothes off. I accidentally giggle out loud from the thought. "What's so funny?"

"Just my imagination," I confess.

"Oh, baby. I wanna know what's going through your beautiful little head right now," Zak whispers each word in my ear between his kisses. I find myself closing my eyes and throwing my head back a little so he has easier access to my neck, but I quickly snap out of it and press my hands against his chest making him take a step back. "Everything okay?" Zak furrows his eyebrows in concern.

"Everything's perfect! I just need to go back home and change if we're going out."

"Oh, sure. Of course." Zak walks back around to the other side of his kitchen island so I can get up off the barstool.

"What time?"

"Jay and I will be over at your place at 7:00."

"Perfect. See you then," I smile and grab my keys and clutch and head back to my apartment.

* * *

"Shawn! Come on, they'll be here any minute!" I hear Kelsey yell from downstairs, but I can't decide on what to wear! I have three different dresses laid out on my bed and an outfit with skinny jeans and a nice top with heels. I decide on my little black dress. It's form fitting and stops right above my knees. It has a low cut v-neck perfect for my feather necklace. I slip on my black heels and grab my gold clutch. My makeup is minimal and natural since the dress speaks for itself.

"Damn, Shawn!" Kelsey exclaims as I make my way downstairs. I get halfway down the stairs and there's a knock on the door. "I'll get it." Kelsey opens the door and there's Zak and Jay both looking ever so handsome. My eyes lock on Zak and I make my way down the remaining stairs as Jay steps inside and hugs Kelsey. Zak stays frozen in the doorway outside and I'm suddenly standing face to face with him.

"Hi," I say shyly keeping my eyes glued to his.

"You look absolutely gorgeous." Zak takes one of my waves in his hand and twists my hair giving me a quick but passionate kiss.

"You look pretty handsome yourself," I smile as I admire Zak's black button down and black jeans.

"Are we ready?" Jay asks. "I'm hungry." we all laugh at Jay eagerness to leave. The guys end up taking Kelsey and I to a really nice tapas restaurant right on the strip. We order our drinks and a small appetizer of calamari. I think Zak and I were the only ones that really liked it. "So how was your first lockdown, Shawn?"

"It was scary, I won't lie," I look back and forth to him and Zak.

"It'll get easier," Aaron tries to reassure me. I look to Zak for confirmation.

"He's right. That was also a tough location to be your first lockdown, but you did amazing out there and you got some amazing still photos even during all the chaos. We did someone who can keep up with us."

"Well, I try. I guess we'll see how the next one goes."

"Tomorrow we'll go over where the next location is going to be," Zak informs Jay and me.

"Hopefully it's a little nicer than the Goatman." Everyone laughs although I wasn't really joking.

We order another round of drinks and share two tapas plates of delicious little steaks and corn on the cob. "So, Kelsey what did you do while we were gone?"

"Oh, I don't know. Just hung out I guess. I worked and read more of my book."

"You're always reading that same damn book," I laugh.

"It's a good one!"

"Which one," Jay asks curiously.

"The Fix by David Baldacci. He's my favorite author. He writes a lot of mystery, thriller, murder type books."

"Sounds interesting," Zak adds. "Too bad I'm not much of a reader."

"Me either." Kelsey and I both laugh at Jay comment even though one could figure he wasn't much of the book time. I was a little surprised by Zak, though. He seems like a guy who would pick up a book every once in a while.

* * *

We finished our amazing dinner and Zak drives Kelsey and I back to our house. All four of us get out of the car and Zak walks me to our front door while Jay and Kelsey stay by the car. The truth is, I didn't want to be here. I wanted to stay with Zak tonight. I hated leaving him. He has this feeling over me towards him that I cannot explain. I stay mesmorized as I look into his gorgeous deep blue eyes and he smiles his goofy little smile like he always does around me. "Thank you for an amazing night. Dinner was delicious."

"You're welcome." Zak takes my chin and lifts my lips to his so he can give me the most passionate kiss making get chill bumps all over.

"I don't want to stay here honestly," I admit shyly. "I just want to stay with you."

Zak chuckles, "I was hoping you'd say that." We both smile and give each other one more kiss. "Let's go get you changed and I'll drive you back to my house with me."

"Sounds perfect." I look back to Kelsey and Jay and they're now walking towards the door.

"You have the only key," I say to Kelsey once she gets close enough to hear me.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry!" Kelsey unlocks the door and the four of us walk in. I could not believe what I was seeing!

"What the hell happened in here?" Jay asks jokingly thinking we had some kind of crazy dance party before we left.

"I don't know! This was not like this," I answer scared. "Someone's been in here." Kelsey and I look to each other at the same time and she has the same petrified look on her face as I did mine. I take told of Zak's hand and squeeze it as the thought of someone being in our apartment trembles me to the core. I have no idea who would've done something like this unless this truly was some asshole breaking in to steal shit. All I knew what that I definitely was _not _staying here tonight.


	14. Chapter 14: That Bitch

As we walk more into the apartment I can see more of the damages done. There were glasses broken in the kitchen and the couches were torn up like someone had taken a knife or scissors and released their life's troubles on the furniture. I look around some more and see that our books have been destroyed, pages ripped out and what looks like red wine poured all over them. I could tell Kelsey was about to get really upset about her books. I liked to read too, but not as much as that girl. The wine had ran all over the carpet which definitely now needed to be replaced. Hell, we needed all new furniture and everything! Who would do something so awful?

I walk upstairs to my room with Zak closely behind me and the asshole didn't just ruin everything downstairs, but they were in our rooms too. "Are you shitting me?" I exclaim looking around my room to see my bed all messed up and my dresser had my clothes thrown all around the room. They had found my journal, ripped it up, and also poured red wine all over it too getting wine all over my bed and rug. "I can't believe this shit!" Zak engulfs me in a hug to comfort me and kisses my forehead. I hear Kelsey and Jay come in my room to make sure I'm okay.

"Holy shit," Kelsey gets wide-eyed. "This is bad!"

"Is your room messed up too?"

"No! Mine's perfect. Exactly how I left it."

"What the hell? Really?" I get so confused I can't wrap my head around my someone would only destroy one room and the downstairs.

"It honestly looks like someone targeted you specifically, Shawn," Jay points out. He's right.

Small tears start to well in my eyes at the thought of being targeted. I embrace Zak harder but quickly release him as I glance at my desk noticing my MacBook was open. "I know for sure I didn't leave that open."

"What are you talking about?"

"My Mac." I sit down at my desk and point to it. "It's open." I press on the spacebar and Pages pops up with a note. "What the?" I begin reading the note quietly to my self.

_"Dear Shawn,_

_Sorry about the place. Well, really I'm not sorry because you stole my boyfriend! I figured now since you're working for the hot guy...you know...Zak...that you could afford to get new stuff. Let's just say had a little fun with your wine. Honestly, I was only with the guy because he has money but that'll be our little secret. Anyways, have fun on your new ghosty adventures!_

_Oh, I almost forgot! This blue charm necklace is beautiful! I know you won't mind if I keep it, right? _

My eyes are now full of tears. Seriously, she thinks she can just take advantage of Zak like that? AND she has my grandmother's necklace. I wanted to kill her! I read on...

_You better watch your back. If you try to say anything or report this you don't wanna know what will happen next. And I will get Zak back...one way or another._

_See you later, bitch!_

_-A_

"That bitch!" I rush over to my jewelry box sitting on my dresser and find that my grandmother's necklace truly is gone.

"What is it?" Zak asks panicked.

"She took my grandmother's necklace!" I yell as tears roll down my face.

"What are you talking about?"

"It's Angela!" I point to my laptop so he can read her stupid letter. Zak starts reading it out loud so Kelsey and Aaron can hear it too.

"Are you sure it's her?" Jay asks surprised once Zak finishes. "She must've had help. There no way she did this on her own."

"It has to be. It's signed 'A'. I always thought she was crazy." I boldly state even though I didn't really know her. I just had another one of those stupid feelings. "I can't believe she said that about you." I look to Zak upset. I could tell he was pissed. "She totally took advantage of you."

"Yeah, she wouldn't be the first woman to do that either. I can't believe I trusted her. I should've listened to you sooner."

"Don't be blaming yourself for this." I embrace Zak in another tight hug. It was now getting close to 9pm and we were all getting pretty tired.

"Just pack a bag of some clothes and come over tonight. You're not staying here."

"Kelsey, you too," Jay instructs her. "We'll figure out what to do about all of this tomorrow."

Kelsey and I both do as we're told and the four of us make our way back to Zak's car. Zak first brings Kelsey and Jay to Jay's place. "Goodnight, girl." Kelsey embraces me in a hug before heading inside with Jay.

"Goodnight, chica."

* * *

I get a warm greeting at the door from Gracie which cheers me up a little bit. "Hey girl," I bend over slightly to pet on top of her head and rub her ears. She groans and runs outside as soon as Zak opens the French doors that lead to his backyard. I take a deep sigh and Zak takes my bag off my shoulder and walks upstairs. I'm not sure if I should follow him but I feel kind of weird just standing here in the kitchen.

"You coming?" Zak yells from upstairs like he was reading my thoughts. I see Gracie at the door so I let her in and we both run upstairs to see Zak sitting on his bed.

"You okay? You look so concerned." I walk to him and he grabs my waist pulling me close as we share a kiss.

"I just can't believe she would do something like this."

"Babe, it'll be okay," I try to stay calm about the situation so Zak doesn't worry too much. "I'm just upset that she used you. How can someone be so shallow and selfish?"

"Don't worry about me."

"You know I would never do anything like that, right?" I assure him.

"I know," Zak musters a smile for me. "I trust you." I return the smile and kiss him softly.

"So, where do you want me to sleep?" Zak looks at me confused. "What?"

"You're staying with me. Unless you didn't want to, I mean, I have a guest room, I guess," Zak stumbles over his words.

"I would love to stay with you," I wrap my arms around his neck and he squeezes my hips even harder. "I just wasn't sure if you wanted me to."

"Of course I do. I always want you." God, why was he so sexy? _Calm your thoughts, girl. _I breathe deep. "You okay?

"Yeah, I'm good. Just tired," I yawn.

"I see that," Zak laughs. "Let's get you to bed." I rummage through my bag of clothes and find a red tank top and some black soffees to sleep in. Zak does the same thing and takes out a pair of black sweat pants. _How does he not burn up during the night? _I wonder and make my way to his beautiful en suite bathroom. I shut the door and take a minute to look around. To the left I see a giant soaker tub which would be so nice to get in right about now. I decide not to be a creeper and look though all of his stuff and I change into my pajamas. As I open the bathroom door I see Zak sitting on the bed with nothing but the sweat pants on. It takes everything in me not to just stand there in the bathroom doorway and stare, but I just can't help it. I bring myself back to earth and notice that Zak was staring at me as well. I walk to the other side of the bed and don't even hesitate in bundling up under the covers. Zak joins me under the covers and I slowly scoot over to him, laying my head on his chest. He takes his hands and rubs up and down my side quickly making my eyes get heavy. He kisses the top of my head and I fall asleep.


	15. Chapter 15: What is Love?

I wake up with the birds assuming still fairly early as the sun had barely begun to shine through the bedroom window. I try my hardest not to wake Zak this early so I slip out of his embrace as quietly as I can. He must be a super heavy sleeper because I know I definitely would've woken up if that was me. I tip toe over to the dresser where I left my phone last night and check the time seeing that it's 5:30am. Well, shit. It's not like I can go to the studio right now. I left my car at my place since I rode around with Zak yesterday. I certainly wasn't about to take one of Zak's cars and just leave, but I really wanted to go to the studio. I hadn't been there since before my first lockdown with the crew. I missed dancing since I felt like I never had the time for it anymore.

I cuddle up on the couch downstairs with a throw blanket and find one of my favorite shows, House Hunters, on the tv. After letting Gracie outside she cuddles up on the couch with me. "I'm not sure if you're allowed on the couch, but I guess while dad is still sleeping it's okay," I whisper to her. She gives me the most sweetest face and I kiss the top of her head before she lays it on my leg. Not too much time went by before I started hearing noises. I always wondered if Zak had spirits here from all of the investigations he's done. I hear one loud bang coming from behind a door that I had not yet been through. "What was that, girl?" I ask Gracie like she can actually answer me as her ears perk up from the bang. Now that loud of a noise must've woken Zak, and if it didn't, I'll be very surprised. I shake off the loud noise and bring my attention back to House Hunters. Maybe fifteen minutes go by and Gracie jolts up and prances to that mysterious door growling. "What's wrong, Grace?" I hop up off the couch and tip toe to the door where Gracie continues to stand growling. I open the door and find a long set of stairs going down. "What? What the hell is this?" I think for a minute of where this could possibly lead to when I hear a voice startle me from behind.

"That's my dungeon."

I jump and quickly shut the door. "Oh my god, Zak, I'm so sorry! I swear I didn't go down there. I just heard a noise and freaked out. Gracie was growling at the door."

"Shawn, calm down. It's okay. I'm not mad or anything. Just promise me you won't go down there for your first time without me."

"I promise." I wonder what Zak is hiding down there for him to not want me down there alone. Just then, I notice Zak making a strange and confused face at me. "What?"

"Nothing," he relaxes. "I just feel like most girls would run away as soon as they hear 'that's my dungeon'", he chuckles and walks into the kitchen.

"Well, I thought I had heard before that you had one, so it's not a huge shock."

"Right. Does everyone know I have one?"

I laugh, "probably."

"So, why did you get up so early? Made me sad when I woke up to myself alone in bed," Zak smirks.

"Oh, did it?" I give him my side smile.

"Don't do that."

"Do what?" I continue.

"That!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." We both get silent for a minute during a small staring contest we have and finally I break the silence with a small chuckle wrapping my arms around his waist. He returns the embrace with a tight hug and kisses the top of my head.

"I'm just glad you didn't take one of my cars and hightail outta here."

I break the hug and step away from him, "Now why would I do that?"

"I don't know."

"I can tell you have trust issues, don't you?"

"Well, wouldn't you after being cheated on twice?"

I get silent as the question for me was all too real and not too long ago. "I'm sorry, I get it," was all I could muster to say.

"It's not your fault." Zak turns to the cabinet and grabs two glasses filling them with water. He hands me one and I sit on my favorite barstool at the kitchen island while he stands leaning against the counter.

"I'm guessing they were before Angela?" I break Zak out of his thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry, it's none of my business."

"Actually both of them were Angela." I was shocked. I try to keep a straight face as it's no place for me to judge poor Zak, but I don't understand why he would stay with her for so long if she did that to him. I know it wasn't my place, but I had to know why.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you stay with her? You defended her and put all of your trust in her even after cheating on you twice."

"Because she swore to me that it would never happen again, but you know how that goes. I was just the dumbass fool that believed her."

"Zak, you are not a dumbass fool. She is, for ruining the relationship she had with you." I say this, although, I had to admit that I was happy I was with him and not her.

"And now she's attacking you because I kept her in my life. So stupid!" Zak slams his glass on the table making the bottom of it shatter and water splash all over his arm. Gracie's first instinct is to run to Zak and comfort him, but he quickly stops her before she cuts her paws on the glass. "Grace, go!" He aggressively points to the living room and she follows suite curling up on the couch.

"Zak, please don't be so upset. None of this is your fault." Zak ignores me and grabs the broom and dustpan from the closet right off the kitchen. He quietly sweeps up the glass without a word then rushes upstairs. I follow him, "Zak, please. Just talk to me? Did I say something to make you upset? I'm sorry I asked about Angela. I'm sorry I even brought it up."

"Shawn, stop." Zak turns to me quickly raising his hand making me stop dead in my tracks while I follow him in the hallway to the bedroom. It takes me aback and I cringe. I didn't mean to, but it was instinct with my last relationship. My eyes well up with tears and Zak realizes what I'm thinking. "You thought I was going to hit you?"

I gasp, "no! God, no!" I cry.

"Then why did you-"

"Because," I cut him off. "I was in a bad relationship. Really bad. That's one reason why I moved here. To get away from Jake and to get a fresh start." I can sense Zak start to relax and his face goes soft almost as if he were about to cry. "Please don't be upset. I didn't want you to worry-"

"We've known each other for how long now and haven't said anything about your past. Were you even going to tell me?"

"I was gonna get there, Zak. It just still feels like yesterday to me. There's still so much you should know, but please understand why I'm not saying anything quite yet."

"I guess so."

I let out a big sigh that I didn't realize I was holding. "You know I trust you, Zak. With everything, I trust you. I've never met a man more caring, kindhearted, loving, and sweet as you. You're my everything, Zak," I admit. It felt kind of crazy to say those words, but it was true. In the weeks that I've known this man we have grown so close. I mean, we are kind of together, but it's even been more than just 'being together'. It's been a relationship that I couldn't even explain. He was my protector. I see a single tear fall from Zak's eye making my heart melt. I couldn't be more lucky.

"I hate that someone had hurt you. I can't even stand the thought." Zak gently takes my face into his hands and promises, "I would never do anything like that to you. You are_ my _everything and I'm so lucky to have met you that day at the Bellagio. I can't imagine my life any other way than with you right here by my side. You're the one thing my life has been missing and I will always protect you. I'll be here for you and I'll always love you."

There it is. He said it and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. That word my whole life has only been nothing but a lie to me, but I knew in this moment that it was no lie. I cry some more and hug Zak as hard as I can. I never wanted to let go. I had those feeling for Zak, of course, but still, it takes everything in me to say the words. I had to mean them since the two relationships that I had were not love. This, what I had with Zak, was deep. Deep love and I knew if I said it in this moment, I mean every word. "I love you, Zak," I whisper into his chest. He pulls apart and kisses me passionately. I never knew true love. Never found the true meaning of the word in my life. Yes, there's love with my family, but that's different. This was a kind of love that wouldn't let go. A kind of love that I could say I was in it, and in deep. Hell, I think we both were. When I think of the definition of love now, it was this. _This_ is what would be in the dictionary, and it was picture perfect.

"Should we get ready for the day?" Zak breaks the after kiss silence.

"Let's," I smile.

"What do you wanna do today?"

"Well, today's Monday. Kelsey is working," I think out loud. "I would actually like to go to the studio for a bit. Do you have any info about our next lockdown?" I ask curiously.

"Actually, yes. Let's go to the studio and then we'll call a meeting at headquarters. We need to talk about that with the guys."

"Uh, oh. Does that mean it's a bad one?" I can see the worry in Zak's eyes.

"It'll be okay, I promise." Zak kisses me one more time before we head back upstairs and find our outfits for the day. I leave my hair down in long waves with basic makeup, my skinny jeans, my floral army green tank top, and black sandals. Zak wears his typical baggy black jeans with his black boots, and a plain grey tee shirt.

"At least it's not black," I joke with him as he slips on the shirt.

"What?"

"Your shirt."

"Oh, yeah. Something different," he laughs. "You about ready?"

"I believe so." Zak lets Gracie out one more time before we leave and we hop in his car. He brings me to my place before we go to the studio so I can get my dance things.

* * *

"I don't think she likes me very much." Zak whispers to me as we pass the lady at the front desk of the studio.

I giggle. "Oh, she loves you. She's just jealous of me," I joke. Zak shoves me playfully as we walk down the hall to the studio room. Once inside, I set my bags on the bench and sit down to put my pointe shoes on. I had decided not to go for the leotard today and just wear my favorite sports bra and dance shorts. I take off my baggy tee shirt exposing my black and lime green sports bra and Zak puts the CD into the player making my music start and I begin.

_Zak's POV_

I still couldn't believe what I was watching. Seeing her dance like this the first time almost brought me to tears and I swear this time it certainly could. I could watch her do this all day. Her legs were endless in the air. God, she was so beautiful. I try to stop a tear from rolling down my cheek by getting up and trying to do the stretches with her. We both die laughing at my struggle to bring my leg up in the air as she did effortlessly on her tip toe. "Good job, babe!" Shawn laughs while still keeping her balance. I lose concentration as my eyes flow down to her gorgeous stomach showing off her six pack abs. Something I barely had. Every muscle in her body were making themselves known as she manages to continue her balance on one leg.

"How long can you do that for?" I wonder.

Shawn comes down off of her toe, "a while, I guess. It's a good leg stretch and workout to just stay there like that en pointe." I slowly nod while desperately trying to keep my eyes up at hers and not her kickass body. "Alright, I think I've had enough stretch. Can you place put the track on number six?"

"Sure thing." I do what she's asked and sit my happy ass back on the bench and watch her beautiful little butt dance. She practiced the same dance she did when I caught her dancing the first time. It was so beautiful. After she got about half way through I definitely felt a tear in my eye. I was in her trance. She drew me in like nothing ever before. She was mine, and I was hers, and nothing was going to change that. After she got to the end of her dance she stood there in the middle of the room and just stared at me.

"Zak? You okay? Why are you crying?"

Shit. I didn't realize I was staring at her and just letting the tears fall. I stand up and walk to her grabbing her face and I kiss her maybe a little more aggressively than expected. "You are so fucking beautiful."

"Zak." Shawn stands up on her pointe shoes and wraps her arms around my neck kissing me again. She wipes my tears away with her thumb and smiles making me want to just buckle in the knees right then and there. I wanted her. I've never wanted anyone so much, so badly, and so passionately in my life. She completed me. It's been a couple months now that I've known her, but I know deep in my heart that she is exactly what I need and want. I just had to let her know. She needed to know that she was my everything. She told me that she loves me earlier today, but I needed to let her know. If she can say it after everything she's been through then I can. She is my love. I pull apart our embrace and she gets significantly shorter as she comes off of her toes.

"Shawn." I breathe.

"What is it?"

"I love you. I'm so in love with you." Shawn cries and jumps wrapping her legs around my torso. We kiss so passionately it brought me to the floor.

"I love you so much, Zak." Shawn breathes in between our passionate kisses. We quickly break apart as we hear a loud knock on the door. It's that front desk lady.

"We need this room. We have a class." She rushes off leaving us to pack up our things and leave.

"Thank you for letting me practice, Ms. Miller," Shawn ever so politely states as we walk past the desk on our way out. She gives Shawn a slight nod with a smile and eyes me down. I swear I could feel her eyes on me all the way to my car.

"I swear she doesn't like me," I tell to Shawn again.

"Why do you suddenly care so much if people like you?"

"People you're associated with. I want her to like me because I want to always be able to go in there and watch you dance."

"Zak, you will. She's not gonna do anything, I promise." We both get in the car and head back to Shawn's place so she can shower and change. I hangout downstairs in the living room and patiently wait for her.

"Oh, hey Zak!" Jay and Kelsey come through the front door.

"Hey, bro. "What have you guys been doing today?"

"Just hanging out. I took Kelsey to breakfast. It's just been a pretty chill morning. We were actually coming back here to clean up the place a little after Angela destroyed it."

"Oh, well, we can do that later. We need a meeting at headquarters today."

"Is everything okay?" Kelsey wonders curiously.

"Yeah, everything is good. I just have a lot of information about our next location."

"Hey y'all! Kelsey why aren't you at work?" Shawn asks rushing down the stairs.

"They let me have off today from everything that happened with Angela. I was going to take the day to clean the house."

"Oh, don't do that. I'll help you later. You don't need to do that alone."

"So are we about ready then?" Jay asks eagerly.

"Yeah, let's do it." Shawn claps her hands together and we follow her out the door.


	16. Chapter 16: Hill View Horror

_Shawn's POV_

"Thanks for lunch, babe," I smile at Zak after finishing the last bite of my sandwich. We had decided to stop at the cafe across the street from headquarters before heading in to talk about our next location. Zak smiles back to say 'you're welcome' and we head back to Zak's car with Kelsey and Aaron following behind. I can honestly say I was nervous for what Zak was about to inform us about the lockdown. I was still so new at all of this I wasn't really sure how to prepare myself. Shortly after arriving at headquarters, Billy and Jay walk in to hear the news as well.

"So, where's the next lockdown?" Billy asks curiously.

"Give me a minute to gather my thoughts and get settled here," Zak states as he tosses some papers down on his desk.

"Come on, man. We've been anticipating this ever since we got back from the Goatman," Aaron chimes in.

"I haven't said anything about the next location yet because we all had crazy experiences at Goatman's Bridge and I felt like we needed time to just get back to normal. So, now I'm at the point where the network is up my ass about getting started on the next episode," Zak explains and sit's down in his office chair. The rest of the five of us squeeze together on the couch in Zak's office and patiently wait for him to continue. "So, our next lockdown is going to be crazy, I'll just start by saying that."

Aren't they all? I think to myself.

"Y'all thought Goatman was bad? This one might be worse."

"Why do you do this?" I ask him in all seriousness.

"Because, Shawn, we want answers," Zak says in his tv voice. I roll my eyes and he continues. "This is a location where Dakota and his team have been twice and had horrible experiences both times they went. I spoke with Dakota about this location and he honestly told me not to do it, but I said to myself that I have the best crew, and that we can get through anything. I even asked Dakota if he would join back in with us on this one and he declined."

"So, where is it?" Jay asks the question we've all been wanting to shout.

Zak takes a big breath in like he's scared to reveal the dreadful location and breathes out, "Hill View Manor."

Silence fills the room and I feel my eyes well up with tears. I close my eyes and my body starts an uncontrollable tremble as I see Dakota's episode replay over and over in my head. I can't shake the scene with poor Alex getting sick while he was alone in that building. I take myself out of my thoughts and back to the deafening silence of Zak's office. Aaron whispers to me, "are you okay?" as I take in a big breathe through my nose and let it out to try and calm myself.

"Why?" I ask Zak. "Why there? You could go anywhere else to get your damn answers."

"I'm sorry, Shawn, but we have to do this one." A tear sneaks down my cheek and I leave the office. I hear Zak coming after me, but I can't face him. "Are you okay?" Zak stops me down the hall with his hand on my shoulder gently turning me around.

"I'm sorry, Zak. I thought I could do this. I don't know why you hired me. I can't," I quietly sob as Zak pulls into his embrace.

"It's okay. I brought you onto our crew because I know you can do this. You're so strong, Shawn. You've been through so much. I know you can do this lockdown and I'll be there with you the whole time. Please understand why we do this and why we're doing this location." I nod. I know why. This is what he does. Correction, this is what _we _do and I'm now apart of this by choice, because I wanted to be. Because of him. Because I wanted to be with him. My breathing slows and I dry my eyes. "Come, on. Let's go back." The crew's worried faces came over me as soon as I stepped back into the office. I returned a look with a reassuring smile letting them know I was okay and find my seat back on the couch next to Aaron.

"Alright, so today is Monday and we don't leave until next Thursday so we have plenty of time to prepare. I had to fight with the network on that one, but we got the time. We're leaving next Thursday and coming home on Sunday. Good with everyone?" We all nod. "Good. Everyone knows what to do for your preparations. Shawn, if you can get started with research that would be great."

I nod, again, in agreement. I knew exactly where to start, too. I had to speak with Dakota and his crew. "Can I have Dakota's number?" I ask Zak once everyone leaves him and I in his office alone. Zak gives me a concerned look. "I thought it would be a good idea to interview them since they've been there before."

"Right." Zak takes his phone from his pocket and reads me Dakota's number.

"Thank you." We both slip our phones back into our back pockets and I step closer towards Zak. He sits on his desk and I grasp my arms around his neck. "You know, you're cute when you're jealous," I giggle.

"I just want you to know you're mine," Zak says seductively with his sexy smile.

"Zak, I'm _only _yours." I kiss him briefly before letting him go and walking to my own office. The first thing I do is look up Hill View Manor online just to get some basic information before I talk to Dakota about their experiences. This was certainly not a location to be excited about, that's for sure. Sometimes I wonder to myself why I agreed to join Zak and his crazy adventures, but in all honesty, he was right. I did want answers. That's why I wanted to go with him to Waverly. I got answers, but it only opened up a whole slew of other questions.

* * *

"You about ready?" I hear Zak from the doorway as I'm caught up in my typing. "Everyone else already left." I stop typing and jerk my head up in surprise. Have I been here that long? I save my notes and check the time on my computer. Damn! It's been three hours since we got here. It was now getting close to 5pm so I gather my things. "Get a lot done?"

"Yeah, I didn't realize it was getting this late. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I had a lot to do, too. Did you call Dakota yet?"

"No. I wanted to do my own research first and make some notes."

"Good thinking." I smile as I take hold of Zak's hand and give him a quick kiss. We make our way to the car and head home for the night.

Zak and I get settled and I make us delicious salmon and risotto with veggies for dinner. It was one of my favorite meals to make and one of Zak's favorites to eat. After we eat Zak helps me clean up the kitchen and we head up to Zak's room. I realize that I don't have any fresh clothes since I haven't been back to my apartment in a while so I steal one of Zak's t-shirts to wear for bed. I change in Zak's bathroom and come out to see him putting on his sweatpants. Fuck me. He's so sexy. Zak turns to me and smiles, "What?" I can't help but smile like a dork right back at him. I shake my head and walk towards him. "Wait. Stop." Zak says suddenly.

My smile quickly disappears and I stop. "What?" Zak smiles letting a little chuckle escape. "What?" I ask again.

"Nothing, it's just, you're super sexy in my shirt." I smile and look down at Zak's shirt seeing that it's completely eating almost my entire small frame as it came down to mid-thy and the sleeves touch my elbows. I look back up at Zak with my stupid smile still covering my face. I run and jump in his arms and he kisses me passionately. He lays me down gently on his bed and hovers over me as he feels his way up my sides giving me chills. Zak stops and takes a second to turn off the bedroom light before joining my back in bed. This was my favorite part of the past couple days. Ending my day in bed with the man I love and having juicy, hot make out sessions. After all these weeks I've been with Zak I still couldn't believe it was true. After a few minutes of Zak rubbing my back I pass out and let my dreams take over the rest of the night.


	17. Chapter 17: The Dungeon

I stand in Zak's bathroom with my wet hair hiding my body behind a towel and stare at the dark circles that formed around my eyes. So much for dreams taking over my sleep last night. They were more like nightmares of Hill View Manor. Dakota's nightmares, or what I imagine to be his nightmares of that terrible place. I quietly open the bathroom door to find Zak still sleeping peacefully. I didn't know how he did it. Investigation after investigation and he still manages to keep it all together. I would go crazy if I were him. I guess we'll find out if I do with the more lockdowns I encounter. I slip on my jeans that I wore yesterday with my bra and one of Zak's t-shirts before heading downstairs. Gracie follows me for me to let her out in the backyard. I was surprised that Zak was still sleeping as the stove clock told me it was 7:30 am. He's usually up by now starting his day.

As I start a pot of coffee and glance over at the French doors, Gracie whines letting me know she's ready to come back inside. I open the door to let her in, but instead she lures me outside to throw her ball a few times before Zak gets up. Thinking back to the first time I started playing with Gracie like this when Zak and I first met and starting hanging out brings a smile to my face. After a few minutes of Grace chasing her ball we head back inside to catch a glimpse of Zak's bare back walking down the stairs that hide behind the mysterious dungeon door. I'm uncertain if I should follow him down or just grab my cup of coffee and wait for him to return. I agree upon the latter and wait for Zak on my favorite barstool with my coffee. I was curious to know what the hell he kept so secret down there, but the fact that he didn't want me down there without him was a little unsettling. It was tough keeping my curiosities to myself with the dungeon door left wide open. I take a sip of my coffee as I hear the sound of Zak's footsteps coming back up the steps. "Oh, hey," Zak breathes a little startled to see me as he reaches the top of the steps and closes the door.

"Hey. Take care of your dead bodies down there?" I joke.

"Yup, they're all fed and watered," he continues along with my joke.

"Oh, ha ha," I giggle. "What do you keep down there, seriously?"

"How about you see for yourself?"

My eyes grow wide at Zak's words. I didn't think I would ever be allowed to go down there. "For real?"

"Yeah, I think you're ready to see it."

"Right now?"

"Are you scared?" Zak laughs as he makes his own cup of coffee. I shake my head though I was a little hesitant. "Come on." Zak sets down his coffee after taking a sip and reaches out to grab my hand. I reluctantly hop off the comfort zone of the barstool and follow Zak down the stairs as Gracie barks behind us. When we reach the bottom of the stairs Zak lets go of my hand and he opens his arms out to display a very large, dark stone room to be his dungeon. It was lit with mostly red lights and some regular lamps here and there. There was one wall of very old books that I would assume to be mocks of witches spell books and whatnot. There was a very large black and red throne sitting a corner of the dungeon, skulls on one wall, a fireplace on another, and knick knacks of all sorts kept in glass cases all over. I take a few steps further away from the steps and into the dungeon to get a closer look. "A lot of these artifacts I've gathered from lockdowns or collected from various places. Most of them are said to be cursed."

"Yeah, the vibe down here is insane," I shutter. I feel like it would take me hours of being down in here to really gather everything and process it all, but I was not about to spend that much time down here. "You sure have a lot of stuff."

"I know it's a bit overwhelming for the first time down here." I nod in agreement. "Shawn," Zak says calmly as he grabs my hand making my jump a little. I turn to face Zak and he lets out a little laugh before he gets all serious again. "I never said sorry and I really am sorry."

"For what, Zak?" I ask with furrowed eyebrows.

"For everything with Angela. Telling you we were nothing when I knew that we were everything. You _are_ everything. It killed me that day at the office when I said all of that to you."

"Zak, it's over," I gently take his face in my hands, stand on my tip toes, and share a passionate kiss.

"I love you."

I smile wide and stare for a moment into his beautiful dark blue eyes, "I love you, too."

"You about ready to go up?" I nod and we ascend the stairs hand in hand.

"You know, we should probably go back to my place today so I can get some of my own clean clothes," I motion to Zak's shirt that I'm wearing and he smiles.

"Why? I like you in my clothes. It's hot," he jokes as he grabs my waist and kisses my neck playfully.

"Zak, really," I laugh gently pushing his broad chest away from mine. "Plus, I don't think the place was ever cleaned after crazy bitch destroyed everything." Zak lowers his head still regretting the fact that he ever stayed friends or whatever he was with Angela. "Stop looking like it's your fault."

"But it is-"

"Nope, I don't wanna hear it," I cut him off. "Come on, let's get out of here for a little bit." I run upstairs to grab my purse and Zak follows behind. He quickly changes into a pair of black jeans and a plain grey tee shirt. Not bothering with his hair, he slips on his hat, brushes his teeth and we're ready to go. "Damn. I think that's the quickest I've seen you get ready," I laugh.

"When I don't fix my hair it's fast," he gives me a quick kiss before leaving his bedroom. "Let's go."

Zak grabs his wallet and keys on our way out the door and I follow closely behind him to his car. He drives me back to my place and we find Jay cleaning up some of the mess Angela left behind. "Jay, please, you don't have to do this," I tell him as I set my stuff down on the couch.

"No, it's fine. Kelsey is at work today so I wanted to surprise her," he replies rigorously scrubbing the red wine out of the rug.

"I don't think that's going to come out, dude," Zak informs him.

"I know, just thought I would try." Jay gets up off the floor and throws the scrub brush in the bucket sitting next to him. "So, how've you guys been?"

"Good!" I reply a little more enthusiastically than intended, stepping over to Jay to give him a hug.

"Yeah, been good. How about yourself, man?" Zak gives Jay a bro hug then gets comfortable on the couch.

"I'm going upstairs to get some things together," I interject before they get lost in conversation.

"Take your time, babe."

_Zak's POV_

"So, I've been wanting to ask Kelsey to move in with me."

"Dude, really? That's a huge step you're jumping towards, there."

"Well, it's been a little while that we've been together and we've been spending more time together anyways. Have you thought about asking Shawn?"

I get quiet for a moment and think because in all honesty, "Yes, actually, I have."

Jay gets wide eyed and excited, "Then why don't you? They can leave this place."

"Aren't they in a lease?"

"Kelsey said it ends in a couple months. I guess they only signed a 6 month lease."

"Oh. Yeah, I'll think about it some more. I have time."

"Zak, you can be so weird. You love the girl, but won't ask her."

"It's not me, it's her. I'm worried about her. She was in a horrible relationship before they moved here and I just don't want to scare her or do anything crazy."

"I get it."

I would love for Shawn to move in with me and we can finally get settled. Well, more like _she _can get settled. She deserves to be comfortable and happy somewhere with someone she loves and with someone who loves her. "I took her down to my dungeon this morning," I randomly tell Jay.

"Whoa, really? You usually only do that with a girl if it's serious."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding and blink quickly a few times, "Yeah, then I guess it's pretty serious. I love her, man. I've never felt like this before."

"I'm happy for you," Jay smiles.

"Same to you, bro. You deserve this after everything with Ashley." Jay lowers his head. "Sorry."

"It's fine. It's the past, I'm over it, and I do deserve to be happy. So do you."

"Thanks, man."

It gets silent for a couple minutes more between Jay and I before Shawn walks back downstairs with a new bag of clothes. "Whoa. It's so serious down here. Did I miss something?" She sets her bag down on the floor by the couch next to me.

Jay and I both laugh, "No, we're all good," I tell her.

"Better be all good." Shawn comes to my side and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek before returning to the kitchen.

"So, Zak tells me he took you to the dungeon this morning!" Jay yells out. "I've never even seen it down there."

Shawn comes back to the living room holding a glass of iced water. "Yeah, it was pretty creepy down there. Wait, how have you not even seen it?"

"Zak doesn't share that space to just anyone."

"Well, I feel pretty special then," Shawn grows taller with a wide smile and gives me a sweet look. I giggle back at her. "But, I think at least your best friends should be able to see it," she adds.

"Maybe one day," I laugh and look down to see the pink ribbon from Shawn's pointe shoes sticking out of her bag. "So, I see you have your pointe shoes with you. Does that mean we're going to the studio?" I keep my smile imagining her dance.

She nods, "Yes, and I have all my notebooks and stuff for work so I'm prepared to go in the office today for my dreaded phone call."

"I see, well, let's go to the studio first. What do you say?"

"I think that sounds wonderful."

"What phone call?" Jay wonders.

"I'm going to call Dakota and talk to him about their experiences at Hill View so I can get a better judgement on the place."

"Ahh, I see. Well, have with that."

Shawn laughs, "Thanks, Jay. I will. You wanna come to the studio with us?"

"Uhh, sure?" He hesitates.

"Come on, man. You'll be blown away," I smile at the thought.

"Alright. Let's go."

"Yay!" Shawn exclaims. She skips back to the kitchen to set her glass in the sink and I gather her bag and purse. Jay follows us to my car and we're off to the studio.


	18. Chapter 18: This Can't Be It

_Shawn's POV_

"I had no idea you could dance like that," Jay says surprised. "You're amazing!"

I laugh with my head down in embarrassment as I take my pointe shoes off and slip on my flip flops. "One of her many hidden talents," Zak smiles.

"Thanks, guys."

We head on out of the studio with the infamous mysterious look the front desk lady gives Zak whenever he walk by her. I really had no idea what her problem was whenever he came here with me. She surely didn't seem bothered by Jay being here. Her eyes trail Zak the entire way as we talk out of the building and to Zak's car. Zak takes us to GA headquarters so I can sit down and have the conversation with Dakota that I've been trying to procrastinate. I get settled in my office and take my phone out of my back pocket. As I bring up his contact, Zak walks in and sits down at my desk. "Can I help you, Mr. Bagans?"

"Just making sure you were okay before you make the call."

"Yeah, I'm good." I take my eyes off my phone and stare at Zak trying to tell him to leave without actually saying the words.

"Okay, okay. I'll go. Just let me know if you need anything."

"I will, babe. Thanks." We share a quick kiss and he shuts my office door as he exits. The ring tone comes through my phone after pushing call and I wait for Dakota's answer. He picks up by the third ring and I'm nervous as all hell.

_"Hello?"_

"Hey, Dakota?"

_"Yeah?"_

"I know we haven't met yet, but my name is Shawn and I'm working with Zak and the Ghost Adventures Crew."

_"Oh! Hey! Zak has told me a lot about you! Good to meet you!"_

"Same to you! Hopefully he's said all good things," I say nervously not knowing he already knew about me.

_"All good, I promise," _he laughs._ "So, what's up?"_

"So, our next location is Hill View Man-"

_"Yeah, I heard. Sorry, I told Zak no."_

"That's what he said, but I don't blame you," I force a laugh, though Hill View Manor was no laughing matter. "I know that you, Tanner, your sis, and Alex have been there. I guess I just wanted to talk to you about it and take some notes before going there myself."

_"Honestly, Shawn, all I can tell you is don't go there and if he's insistent on going to this location then do not be alone."_

"Well, that makes me feel good."

_"I'm sorry. I don't mean to scare you, but that's the reality of this place. It's awful."_

"So I've gathered."

_"I don't even know what to tell you about it. I mean, I'm sure you've seen our episode and did research yourself so you know what kind of things to expect."_

"Yeah, I'm just scared."

_"I get that. Good luck, Shawn. Call me anytime."_

"Thanks, Dakota. Bye."

_"Bye."_

Well, that was a bust. He's right though. I mean, what is he going to tell me besides what I already know about the place? I guess I just needed some reassurance, but he didn't seem like he wanted to talk much about it. I get it though, he just went not too long ago himself and I'm sure he just wants to forget all about it.

_Knock, knock._

"Come in!" I yell through the closed door.

"How did it go?" Zak wonders.

"Well, he didn't have much to say."

"Figures. It'll be okay."

"I wish you would stop saying that," I roll my eyes. "You can't know that for certain."

"I will do my damnedest to make sure everything will be okay, okay?" I nod and let out a heavy sigh. "Look, I have a lot to talk to the network about this location so I'll be here for a couple more hours. If you want to head back to my place and hang out that's fine. You can take my car or wait here. Jay said Kelsey is getting off work a little early so she'll be coming over here to pick up Jay."

"I don't mind hanging out."

"Okay, don't work yourself too hard. I love you," Zak gives me a kiss before leaving my office.

I sit and ponder in my office for about ten minutes before I decide to not wait around anymore. I walk down the hall a few doors to Jay's office and let him know that I'm going back to Zak's and text Zak so he doesn't worry. I never received a reply so I figure he must be really busy with the network crew. I take his keys from his office and head back to his house. Gracie begs for me to play for a few minutes before I start hearing odd noises coming from behind the dungeon door. Of course when I'm alone these kind of things would start happening. Again, I question why Zak wanted me on the crew because I can be a huge baby when it comes to this kind of stuff. Gracie lets out a whine when I stop throwing the ball and walk over to the door. I get a shock through my fingertips as I place my hand slowly on the door handle. Remembering Zak telling me didn't want me down there alone for my first time makes me hesitate to turn the knob, but technically it was my second time. I wanted to see for myself what I keep hearing. As soon as I open the door Gracie starts barking at me as if to tell me 'no', but I ignore her and I take my first step down the creaky staircase. Half way down the steps I hear a huge bang making me jump and almost lose my balance. I grab a tight hold of the railing and find my footing again on the next step. Finally, my right foot finds the floor of the dungeon and I start laughing uncontrollably. "Oh, no," I cough again.

I try to pay no attention to my coughing spell and continue deeper into the dungeon, but with my lungs on fire it's a little difficult to ignore. This feeling was all too familiar from when I was about 19 and got a certain diagnosis from my doctor. I cough some more and take my hand to my mouth. Feeling a splatter of liquid against my hand I get more concerned and start to get teary eyed. Seeing the blood drops on my hand and my shirt makes me fall to my knees. The dungeon starts spinning and the red Hughes of the room mess with my head making me seeing things that weren't there. Or, maybe they were being that I was in Zak's dungeon. "This is not good. I gotta get outta here." I try to come back to standing, but my body says no. All these years of fighting and I feel like it's giving up on me. Right here, in Zak's dungeon. "So, this is how it's gonna end, huh?" I start to get mad at myself, at my body, not being able to fight for another ten minutes so I can get back upstairs and call Zak. I'm able to get my right leg up so I'm kneeling on my left knee, but it's no use. I cough for one last time before my vision turns black and I pass out on the dungeon floor.


End file.
